


The Farmer and his cows

by lilanon



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - Slavery, Child Abuse, Dubious Consent, Dubious Morality, Extreme Underage, Implied Incest, M/M, Milking, Mpreg, Pedophilia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-07
Updated: 2013-05-20
Packaged: 2017-12-10 17:55:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 18
Words: 93,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/788503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilanon/pseuds/lilanon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Slavery AU - Set some time in the future, about a century ago, a scientist looking for a cure for infertility discovered ambrosia instead. A drug created from the body fluids of people fed on a special serum since childhood. Ambrosia is the ultimate cure all, prolonging life, increasing good health and increasingly valuable.  In a world dealing with financial mayhem, it's the norm for families who are struggling financially to sell off one or more of their kids to one of the many milking farms.</p><p>8 year old Jensen's parents just lost their jobs and money is getting tight, so Jensen is sold to the Padalecki Ranch just down the road. There, Jared, the owner, trains him to be a good little milking cow along with the rest of his live stock. To Jared's great pleasure, and Jensen's misfortune, Jared soon discovers that his new cow is developing into an Omega, a rare breed of the altered human capable of giving birth to farmborn ambrosia cows. </p><p>Will the world outside the farm change before it's too late?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Created based on a prompt from the spn kink meme:
> 
>  
> 
> Slavery!AU - It's the norm for families who are struggling financially to sell off one or more of their kids to one of the many milking farms.
> 
> 8 year old Jensen's parents just lost their jobs and money is getting tight, so Jensen is sold to the Padalecki Ranch just down the road. There, Jared, the owner, trains him to be obedient until the day he starts to produce sperm (around 10 or 11). Jared then fucks him to stimulate production, then puts him on a milking machine three times a day with the rest of his 'livestock'. Jared makes a killing selling what he collects to sperm connoisseurs and medical research facilities.
> 
> At the end of the day, Jared pulls out a scrap of paper from a bucket with a number on it, and which ever boy/teen has that number branded on his shoulder is the one Jared brings to the main house and fucks all night.
> 
> Go ahead and throw in any other kinks you want, except for scat and watersports.

They lived in a small family home in a small suburban neighborhood just barely within the city limits. Their home had two floors, three bedrooms and one bathroom that was barely enough for all five of them. The stairs were old, the steps practically groaned when you ran up and down and the kids enjoyed sliding down the railing, or testing out how many steps you could jump past and still end up safely on your feet at the bottom of the landing. The fridge would have to be replaced soon, and the oven had given up months ago, but they lacked the money to replace it. It didn't matter to the kids. The eldest, Josh, had gotten his first job at the age of fifteen, paying for new clothes he knew his parents couldn't afford to give him and the occasional sweet for his little brother and sister, that he knew was often ignored due to money worries. Josh had once offered his money to his mom, but she'd refused, said he should try and save it, for college, or a car. 

Josh was their parents perfect son, and Jensen and Mac's greatest hero, so of course he was also the victim of most of the younger kids' scorn as well. They were a happy family, Mom, a former realtor, Dad, a white collar worker at some factory that closed down the year before and the three of them. Josh, Jensen and MacKenzie. And if asked, they would have said they were happy. 

Mom hadn't made a new sale all month, there weren't a lot of people out there looking for new homes. Not now that housing prices bottomed down again and people barely managed to keep their heads above water as it was. She'd come home late the night before, staring at the bills on the table. The ones nobody talked about, but that all three kids knew had been growing with every passing day. And still, despite all the warning signs, when the bomb dropped, it still came as unexpected as if there had been no advance warning at all.

Jensen and his sister sat on the stairs. Mom was crying, dad was holding her, she was telling him it would be fine. He’d find a job, or she would. She was telling him they couldn't do it, that they'd find another way. But they didn't act as if they believed it. Jensen shivered and held his little sister, trying to make her feel better. Josh had gone up to his room earlier, refusing to be a part of anything that was going on, refusing to accept that anything might change. He's slammed his door shut, giving their parents one last glare from up the stairs. 

Mom and dad had been fighting all morning. Jensen and MacKenzie had for the most part just tried to be as small and quiet as possible, watching their shows on the family holo that was at least five years out of date. Too old to be worth anything if they put it up for sale, so they kept it instead. Mom had started crying this morning, right after she said the words: "you're right, we have no other choice.". She hadn’t even looked at Jensen since. And all Jensen knew was that his name kept coming up and he couldn’t figure out why. Just that he hated it, because it made his mother’s mood even worse. Josh had told them to come upstairs when he did, but Jensen and Mac had gotten tired of sitting still on their brother's bed and missing what was happening downstairs.

“Jensen.”

Jensen stared over the stairs, down at his parents. His father’s eyes on him felt harder than ever before. 

“Come here for a second.”

Jensen got to his feet and got down the stairs, step by step. He was breathing harshly and terrified, his hands feeling clammy on the wooden railing.

His father made him stand in front of him and lifted his face, looking at him for a moment before pulling him into a hug. He kept saying he was sorry, but Jensen just didn’t understand what his father was so sorry about. 

Jensen stared back at MacKenzie who was as scared as he was, before staring in between his mom and his dad. Mom didn’t touch him, she went up the stairs, pulling MacKenzie along with her to Josh’ room, leaving Jensen downstairs with his father. Jensen's lip trembled, it was the only part of him that moved, other than that he stood frozen.

“Jensen, you know that we’ve… that we’ve been having money trouble.”  
Of course Jensen knew, they’d been selling as much of their stuff as they could find. The good holo had gone first, until Josh had brought the old holo he got from grandma downstairs. Then the leather couch, replaced with a rickety and smelly old one from the second hands store. His and Mac's bikes had been gone for months, Only Josh's had been kept, but only because he needed it to go to work, riding his bike was cheaper than taking the bus to the grocers.They’d even gotten rid of the dog, selling Icarus to a couple further up in town that could afford to take care of him. Mrs Mulrooney didn't mind if they visited and Icarus always seemed happy to see them. But Jensen still missed him.

“I’m sorry daddy, I’ll eat less, I promise, I won’t…”

“Oh God, Jensen,” his father pulled him back into a hug, “I’m so sorry, but that wouldn’t be enough.”

His father never cried, until now. “A few years after you were born, Jensen, I had no choice but to put you up as a deposit, I had to, for my business. I thought it would never, that it would never be called in, that I would always be able to pay the premiums. I didn’t think…”

Jensen stopped breathing for a second. He remembered a kid from his class, Tom, one day, the debt collectors had marched into school to come pick him up. The teachers had told them to wait, to stop scaring the kids, but the men hadn’t cared. They leered at the other boys, making it clear they could come for any of them any time soon. They’d grabbed Tom, dragged his arms behind his back and then pulled him out of the class at the end of a leash. 

All the class had ran to the windows, staring as Tom got pushed into the back of a van. They’d never seen him again. 

“I don’t want to go!” Jensen whispered “Please don’t make me go.”

“None of us want this Jensen, but if I don’t bring you in now, they’ll impound both you and, "his father broke, "they might take Josh as well to pay for late fees. I can’t lose you both. The agent said that... ;that if we sell you to the company ourselves, then we'll avoid impound costs, and then Josh and Mac’ll be safe.”

Jensen wanted to scream, to ask his dad why he didn’t just sell Josh instead of him. But Jensen knew why, Josh was over fifteen, the price they’d get for him would be far lower than what they’d get for Jensen. 

That and they’d already invested too much into Josh, getting him ready for college and a future. As for MacKenzie, girls never went for as high a price as boys did, you could only harvest so many eggs out of them and the procedure was far too invasive.

It all made sense, but it didn’t stop Jensen from wanting to lash out. 

“When?” he finally asked, failing to keep his voice from shaking. He wished he could ask his real question instead, if he could say goodbye to his friends first, what was he supposed to tell them anyway? That he was going to be sold, that once the papers were signed, he wouldn’t be a human being no more. That the team would have to go on without him, even if he was one of the best players on their little league team. Not that that meant much, since most of their team sucked. He wanted to at least tell Ty and Alona, let them know that he'd miss them. 

“Now.”

Jensen didn’t bother to ask if he should pack, Ambrosia cows didn’t own property, they were property. His parents could probably get a decent sum for his clothes and whatever toys he still had left. Mac could probably get some use out of his schoolbooks.

He should try and run, but where to? If he ran, his parents would just find him again, or tell the cops and it would just make things harder for MacKenzie. He didn’t care about angering Josh. Even knowing it wasn’t his brother’s fault, he was still angry that Josh got to keep going to school and thinking about football and college, while Jensen. It was just so unfair. He paid attention in school, he never got in trouble, he hadn't, had he? Wasn't that what they said, that only bad kids got sold. That if you did your best in school, did what your parents told you and were careful, that you'd be safe?

His father led him to the car, tightening his seat belt, while Jensen quietly stared down at the floor. He didn't want to stare out of the window, not even as they passed the Padalecki farm. Ty always wondered where the cows slept. Alona said they were probably in one of the larger barns. After all, there had to be enough place for beds or something for them to sleep on. By the time they got to a parking lot in the middle of town, Jensen stopped thinking and just let Dad led their way to the shopping street. The company’s store front wouldn’t open for another hour, so Dad took him to a diner first. Dad ordered him pancakes and a chocolate milk shake and whatever he wanted for dessert. It was his favorite, they hadn't gone out to eat in months. But Jensen could barely even stand looking at it, his hands were shaking and he started crying. 

The girl that took their order never even gave him a second look. 

Jensen dragged his feet as they left, following his father into the store. Jensen was told to sit on a bench in the front, right next to some boy from a class higher than his own that Jensen had barely even talked to before. The boy was wearing shackles on his hands that were locked to the bench and feet and glaring at the backs of a couple sitting further into the store talking to one of the clerks.

His own dad was talking to one of the men , answering questions and signing papers. It seemed to last forever. Jensen could hear the shackles on the boy next to him and almost wished he had some of his own, they might make him feel less like an object, but then after today, that was all he was going to be anyway. 

Suddenly the man stood in front of him and lifted his face. Letting go of him almost right after and ordering him to follow. Jensen took one last look back at his dad, who quickly turned away from them. Jensen was shaking as if hit by an earthquake, but followed the man into the next room, a doctor’s office. Or more likely, a veterinarian practice. There were pictures of scary looking Alphas and tiny little Omegas on the walls. Jensen didn't get to read the text on the posters.

He wasn’t given any privacy, just told to get his clothes of. He did so and stood in front of the physician. She touched his body all over, made him lift his arms, his legs and then she grabbed for his penis and he couldn’t help a yelp in shock. “Please no.” he begged, but she wasn’t listening. 

She checked some boxes on her clip pad before pulling out a series of allergy tests. Jensen had had them before, and he wanted to tell her they weren’t needed, but as soon as he opened his mouth, she glared at him to shut up. 

The man came back in, she gave him a clipboard with her results. “Green card, no nectar immunity or allergy. It’s a perfect specimen, a bit too young yet to be milked, but that’ll just give his owner some time to get him used to the nectar and train it before use. “ Jensen hugged himself where he sat on the examination table, scared to death of the two people who were talking about him as if he didn’t understand a word they were saying. Worse, as if it didn’t matter that he did understand.

“Daddy.” He whispered.

“You don’t have a father anymore.” Jensen shivered, feeling the man’s eyes on him for the first time since they came in here. “No father, no mother, no name. From now on, you are what your owner tells you to be. Is that understood.”

Jensen couldn’t answer, even if he wanted to.

“It’s alright, little one. Soon, you’ll get an owner who will look after you, and you won’t ever have to worry about anything but pleasing your owner, ever again.” The man petted Jensen’s head, touching him gently even as Jensen tried to pull away. “Is it ready to go?” 

“I just need to tag him and you can take him.”  
Jensen quickly turned back to her and at the big tagging gun she held in her hand. “Stay still.” He didn’t even have the time to think of disobeying, before she placed the gun at the back of his neck and he felt something sting into his skin and sinews. The chip would soon mesh with his spine, showing nothing on the outside but a small black dot and a serial number that would be easy for cops to track if he ever got ‘lost’. 

He wanted to grab his clothes, but they didn’t give him the chance to do so. Instead he was pushed through the door into the next room, naked as the day he was born. There were a few other boys already there and he could feel their eyes on him, as he stared back, eyes wide open. The nurse pushed him forward and ordered him into one of the glass cases. At least he had one for himself, he didn't have to share with anyone else like some of the others. Or so he told himself.

The floor was soft, and there was a water bowl in the corner of the booth, while he noticed a drain on the side and air holes on the top. Jensen tried desperately to ignore the metal railing of the open drain, he kept his head low, grabbed his legs and fought the urge to throw up. Soft music ran from the speakers in the corners of the room and Jensen was tired of the repeating playlist long before the third time it started back up. One of the other boys tried to start up a conversation but Jensen just didn’t want to. As long as he ignored everyone else, maybe he could keep thinking of this as a dream. Something he’d wake up from the next day, so he could get up from his bed the next morning, play with his dog, go to school and pretend none of this had ever happened outside of his own twisted mind. 

It was just hard to do when two of the boys kept whispering about the farm, about the rumors they'd heard. The rumors they'd all heard. About the farmers buying whips and canes. Boy's tales about sex, that they were all too young to understand. One of the older boys said they'd all be fucked soon enough, 'literally' he added, before falling quiet.  
Jensen didn’t even want to think about the farms, or farm, singular, that he would end up at. Where he’d spend the rest of his life until he was too old to be milked.

A door slammed open and Jensen stared up at the men and women entering the room. It wasn't the door to the doctor's office. This one was large and forboding, and probably led to the front of the office. Jensen kept staring at the people who ogled them in a way that made him tense up. Especially at one in particular. Jensen recognized him, Jared Padalecki, the man who owned the Ambrosia farm just down the road from where he lived. Or where he used to live. He’d seen the man a dozen times before, sometimes driving up to his farm with a boy just like Jensen was now, up in the back of his truck. 

He’d remembered the man’s eyes on him before, looking him over whenever he passed the on the way to school, or when they went shopping. Before he’d been able to hide behind his parents, hide in the car, behind layers of clothes. But now the man’s eyes moved over his body with nothing to stop him but a thin piece of transparent glass between him and the farmer. 

Money, or at least a credit card passed hands and soon even that little bit of protection was gone. Jensen wasn’t even given the chance to choose to fight or obey, instead the farmer grabbed him over his shoulder and carried him outside. 

They passed Dad on the way out. Jensen’s father was holding a bag of groceries, caring for his family, as life went on and Jensen didn’t even bother to yell at him for help. Too late for that, it had been too late when he woke up in the morning.

Jensen was dumped on top of the hay in the back of the truck, the straw itching on his naked skin, as he stood up and stared outside at the world he’d never again be a part of.

 

******

 

Jared turned to the vet who told him the bad news. It was never a good thing when he had to get rid of one of his cows. He knew he was soft on his animals, his friends told him that often enough, but it was hard not to get attached to your cows. Especially since he got most of his when they were calves, he'd raised them by hand, took care of their physical needs, saw them mature into cows and stood by them from the first second they went into production. No matter how many of them he lost, it was never easy to let go of one that had gotten to sick to keep serving in production. 

Milked dry, the vets called it when a cow got so sick that its sperm became thin and feeble, worthless. He’d had this one for close to twenty years. He remembered the way the animal had bucked when it first arrived, struggling every step of the way. It had taken him weeks before it was broken enough to understand it's place. But once it had, it had been a pleasure to have around, so eager to please and it hurt to know that he would have to put the poor thing out of its misery. Coughing, lungs filled with fluid, he couldn’t even try and sell it to one of the mines. Not that that would be a kindness, not really. All the cow would do now was lie on the floor and cough the slime out of its throat. Tuberculosis was far from a silent killer and though it was curable, it was just too expensive, both in time and money, to try and do so for an animal that at most had five years left to begin with. No, better this way.

Jared held its hand as the doctor pulled out a syringe and pushed it into the veins of the cow’s arm. The tranquilizers worked quickly, making its death painless as Jared brushed his fingers through the fuzz on its head.  
Much as he enjoyed the hold of hair on his cows, it was simply more hygienic and easier to keep it buzzed, short so flees were easily gotten rid of and less likely to tangle up during the day.

“I’m sorry, Jared, do you want me to take care of the remains for you?”

Jared nodded, the law proscribed that all farmers had to dispose of their animal's bodies within a day. Owners could use them for whatever they wanted, as long as it was done hygienically and out of the way of the public. It’s not like they were human anymore, so who cared about their remains once their primary use was gone. He’d known one or two farmers who’d gone as far as to have a favorite cow of theirs stuffed and put on display, but Jared himself had never been able to do so. He generally preferred to leave his carcasses to the vet who’d use the intestines as part of his study program to develop a stronger ambrosia, and a better nectar. One that would give Ambrosia cows a longer lifespan, a longer usefullness. As it was, most ambrosia cows barely made it to thirty, forty could almost be considered ancient.

He wished he could wait a few days before buying a new one, but he needed to keep his stables full if he wanted his investors to stay happy with him. He didn’t want a repeat of the last time when Jeff decided to ‘help out’ and brought in a new cow himself. The cow had been argumentative, disruptive and had put off the milk of all the other cows in the stable for weeks. But that was the general risk when you bought a cow older than working age. When you got them younger, it was easier to train them, get them used to your hand and make sure they understood what was expected of them. 

Younger cows also dealt better with the Nectar, were more receptive to it. Jared had never seen a cow that started on Nectar after they hit puberty, that had ambrosia as strong as one that started on it before hormones changed their body chemistry. More than that, older cows were too used to living free, they still thought of themselves as people. And you couldn’t just pluck a teenager of the street and expect him to think of himself as a cow in a matter of days. It took years of living the life before they were relaxed enough, so their milk was pure and untainted. 

In the end he’d had to sell the cow to a mining company that bought up slaves for the more dangerous parts of the work. Jared hadn’t liked to do it, he loved all of his animals, but it had been best for the herd and as their owner, the good of the herd always came first. No matter how hot the cow’s ass had been.

He was actually surprised when he saw Roger Ackles coming out of the Agency. He knew the man had been hitting hard times, but he hadn’t thought things had gotten quite that bad. He barely managed to stop his excitement when he entered the showing room and he saw Jensen sitting in one of the booths. The boy was even more beautiful than he’d ever imagined him being. His deep green eyes almost looked like emeralds in the overhead spots. He looked like a colt, a calf really, small and pixish, with a promise of size as he grew up.

Quiet though, Jared could feel Jensen’s heart hammering in his chest, terrified. Jared wished he could calm him down, but knew that at this moment, he’d only make things worse. It was hard for him to think of Jensen as a cow, a slave, no matter how often he’d dreamed of putting the boy in one of his stables. But he had to, for Jensen’s sake. Thinking of him as a human now would only make things harder for the calf, make it more of a struggle to submit. 

He had to fight his hard-on all the way back home. Looking back to the bed of his truck and staring at the boy, the cow’s lanky body. The puppy fat covering his stomach and ass. Beautiful. 

He opened the truck bed as they got to the farm, ready to grab the cow by his arm if he, if it tried to run. But Jensen was still too stunned by far to do so. It happened at times, when a parent sold their child to the agency. Most of the time, the cow was still too much in shock, that this of all things could have possibly happened to them. It made it easier to break them in, kept them from struggling. It never lasted, but it sure made those first few days a lot easier, both on him, his workers and the cow itself.

Chad came running up to them, holding a bit and a lead in his hands. Jared accepted both from him and slowly looked down at the boy in front of him.  
“Open your mouth.” Jensen ‘s eyes kept darting in between them, before he complied. Jared tied the harness around the back of the calf’s head and lower down to its neck, placing the bit in between the calf’s teeth, his fingers brushing past its cheek. The bits were especially designed for the soft inner cheek of the ambrosia cows. As the boy's body changed, its mouth would grow the calluses needed to wear the bit longterm, make it something they could almost ignore. Just a soft reminder of what they were, what they were meant to be.

The calf was shivering and Jared quickly led it to the stable. Only two weeks ago, he’d had to chase Jensen’s older brother away from the farm along with a few of his friends. He’d have to call the cops if the older Ackles brother came back to cause trouble. 

The bit didn't really take up that much place in the cow's mouth, they could still eat, drink and be used with them in, but it sedated their tongue and kept them from talking. But more than that, it was a warning, a reminder, especially those important first months while the human body changed into that of a full fledged Ambrosia cow. And it kept the screaming down, while the calf was branded, kept the rest of the cows from getting too upset. Jared got his branding irons, three of them, three, six and five. They were a more modern version of an old idea. Just enough to cause a small burn in the upper layers of the skin, but not enough to cause too much damage to the nerves below the skin.

He made sure to sanitize them first, both the cow and the irons. He knew that some of the newer farmers tended towards tattoos, but he’d learned from his father a long time ago, that it was easier to just brand the cows, ink could be removed to easily, and faded after a few years, a brand was more permanent. 

“There there, beauty, this is going to hurt a bit, but it’ll be over soon.“ He pulled the irons together in a hand shaped lock, no reason to make the poor calf suffer through three burns, when he could finish it in one.

Jensen started struggling when he noticed the irons, but Jared subdued him easily, placing him in the locks designed for this exact purpose. He checked the heat on the brands, glad that Chad had heated them up beforehand. The poor calf was scared enough without making him wait, knowing what was going to happen to him. 

Jensen screamed as Jared quickly pressed the assembled brand on his shoulder. Jared counted off the time needed for the brand to form, waiting not a second longer than needed before removing the iron. Chad quickly offered him a cold cloth and salve to cover the burn. 

Jensen was sobbing, still hanging in his chains. Jared brushed his fingers through the boy’s hair, before accepting the scissors, razor and shaving cream that Chad offered him. He loosened the leather of the bit, just enough to get to the skin behind it, ignoring the cow’s pleading as he started with thinning out its hair, before he smeared in the shaving lotion and removed every last bit of hair from its head. The calf was still young and smooth, so when Jared started spreading a hair removal crème over its body, feeling off every part of his new property as he did so, he was almost glad it’d be easier this way. As long as he smeared in the crème at least once a month, the cow would never grow a string of hair in its life. He had forty five cows at the farm at any given time, so keeping them all smooth and shaved would be hard work if he didn’t have this little time saver on hand. 

Jared removed the chains and carried the calf down to the stable. He stopped in the door for a moment, enjoying the wave of warmth coming out of the heated stable, before stepping inside. Three of the calves where playing a game in the open area near the door. They fell to their knees as soon as they saw the door opening. The current rotation had fifteen of the cows strapped in for duty, while the others were sitting around, listening to music, sleeping or doing whatever else they could do in their free time. As long as they kept quiet and didn’t pretend to be human, they could do whatever they wanted as far as he was concerned. He wasn’t a cruel man. 

Another thing his friends mocked him for, that he actually gave his cows free range while they weren’t used for production. Or at least they did, till they realized that the quality of his milk was consistently higher than that of those farmers who kept their cows strapped in at all times and milked them dry on a daily basis. 

He placed Jensen in the empty booth, taking care to put him on his untouched shoulder so he wouldn't be in any unnecessary pain. 

“Water.” He stated, mere seconds later two of the calves came running up to him, holding a can of drinking water from the table on the side. The others were still on their knees, waiting for his next command. Whatever it might be. He filled the water bottle in the booth and used the remains to drench the cloth he was holding, cleaning up the calf’s face from the tears still falling down its cheeks.

“It’s all right little one, cry if you want to, the pain will be gone soon.” He let his fingers trail down the little one’s spine, from its tag, down to its ass, letting his fingers brush in between the calf’s buttocks. “There there.” Jensen winced at the touch, but Jared didn’t let that stop him. The young cow would have to learn to get used to his master’s touches and the sooner the better. It would be best for the cow if it just learned to see those bits of attention as something pleasurable, it would make the poor animal’s life a lot easier if it became able to enjoy what happened to it. 

That and it would drastically improve the taste of its milk, which was all that should really matter to Jared. 

Then he took a chain and tied it to Jensen’s ankle. It was more than long enough to let the calf move around up to the food bench or the drain raster, but no further than that. Jared checked the bit one last time, making sure it didn’t hurt the calf’s lips, before leaving him to get used to his new home. 

“Welcome your new brother, boys. Try not to be too hard on him.” And then he got out of the stable and back to his own house. He had a bit more work to do before the next shift fell in duty and definitely before he returned to pick his fun for the night.


	2. Chapter 2

Jensen's back hurt. His mouth ached and he wanted to lie down and die. He wasn't even gone a day, and he already missed home. He wanted to go back home, he wanted his bear, the one he'd claimed he was too old for only a few days ago. He wanted his Dad to show up, to tell Mister Padalecki that he'd made a mistake and to please let Jensen come home with him. And then Dad would hug him and tell him he was sorry, and Mom would have his favorites ready for him and.... But that wouldn't happen, would it. Once he got tagged, he stopped being human and if he went home now, they’d just have to bring him back to his owner, or be accused of stealing. He couldn’t do that to MacKenzie…. Or Josh for that matter.

He didn’t want to look at the other boys in the room, even as several of them approached him. In the end he sat up and looked around. He was in one of dozens of booths, most of the boys were running around free, while some of them were locked into their booths. Like the one in the booth right in front of his. He couldn’t see the boy’s face, but he was knelt down, his face pushed to the floor, forcing his ass up in the air. There was something sticking in his butt. Something big. Jensen desperately tried to look away, but his eyes seemed to be rebelling.

Two boys, about his age, maybe a bit older came up to him, the oldest couldn't be any more than ten. His hands were cupped in front of them and literally loaded full of grapes. He pushed his hands forward in offering and Jensen didn’t really know what to do. He tried to answer but the thing in his mouth kept him from doing so. The second boy then picked up a grape and forced it past the bit, startling Jensen so much that he opened his mouth and the grape slipped in between his lips. Then he pushed one into his own mouth before swallowing it, as if to say, “see, it’s easy.” Jensen quickly grabbed one, he didn’t dare to take any more, even though at home he would have never settled for less than a handful. 

The other boy threw a ball at him, Jensen grabbed it before he realized what he was doing, he saw the boy was waiting and quickly threw it back. It soon became a game, even as the other boys tried to make sure they didn’t throw the ball out of the range of his chain. 

Throwing the ball wasted some time, but it didn't take long before the ache from his shoulder spread out, making him cry if he even tried to move. The other boys stopped when they saw that, and one of them held him for a moment before giving him some peace. Jensen sat back down, huddling against the wall of the booth. The other boys kept playing with the ball, and Jensen wondered if he’d ever get so … bad that just the idea of playing with a ball for hours on end, was better than doing nothing. 

Suddenly a bell rant through the silence of the stable. Jensen saw most of the boys running towards their booth. He quickly followed their example and moved further down in the booth that he’d been chained to. Three men entered the stable and Jensen stared at them in fear. He recognized two of the stable hands, the guy who’d been helping mister Padalecki earlier, and Chris, a guy a few years older than Josh who used to have Josh's job before he quit. Josh said the guy had been nice when he first taught him up, before Josh had started at the store. Jensen remembered him, because the guy used to add some extra sweets to their basked, when the owner wasn't watching.

They were doing something to the boys stuck in the booths, releasing their chains and pulling the thing out of their butts, whatever those things were. It was only as the boy in front of him was finally able to sit up that Jensen noticed there was something around his dick as well. The stable hand released that, his hands moving up and down the boy's dick, before putting something else around it. Jensen didn’t know what it was, but he didn’t really try to get too good a look of it either. Several of the boys ran up to the side of the stable, it was only then that Jensen realized it was some kind of latrine. Not toilets, that he would have noticed before, but a raster with holes in it where they could hunch over and release themselves, kept clean by a stream of water, released as soon as they stepped off the raster. 

Jensen knew he needed to go to the toilet, but the idea of doing so, in front of everyone, made him wither on the spot. He could hear the men moving on to the booths next to him and Jensen couldn’t help himself from looking over the side of the booth and at what was happening to the boy next to him. Standing up hurt, as it moved his shoulder once again. They were attaching those same kind of tubes to the boy next to him, the same kind that they’d used on the other boys, and Jensen could now see the boy’s eyes glaze over, and hear him moan, as something started pulsing on the thing in the back. 

Jensen quickly sat back down, terrified. He waited for the men to come to his booth after, but instead the men moved on to the booth on the other side of his and continued their job.   
It was only when they were finished with all the older boys that Jensen and the younger kids were called up front. Jensen shivered, once again, trying not to stare at the boys who were stretching their limbs as they got back to their booths to kneel down. The second stable hand, Chris, released Jensen's ankle from the chain, and Jensen felt like a huge weight was lifted from him, even though the thing couldn’t have weighed more than a few pounds.

All in all there were about ten boys in Jensen’s age group, though he could easily see, he was one of the youngest. They were taken outside and Jensen enjoyed the fresh air for a second before shivering against the cold. 

Mister Padalecki came up to him and told the two stable hands to take the other boys for a run. Jensen wanted to go with them, anything to get away from the much much larger man.   
“Have fun.” The one guy, Chad, Jensen thought they called him, said to his boss before ordering the boys to run along the grass.

Jensen started shaking, his eyes filled with tears.. 

“Shhh, little one, nothing bad is going to happen.” Jensen already hated the term ‘little one’, more than any other nasty remark he’d ever heard applied to him. Jared led him to a small shack next to the stable, opening the door and ordering Jensen inside. There was sort of doctor’s table on one side of the room. “Just lie down on the table, on your belly, face front.”  
There was nowhere left to run, so Jensen just did as told. He pushed his hand over his eyes, trying to stop the tears.

“You’re a good boy, yes you are.” The man said as his hands kept patting Jensen’s butt, back and legs. The touches were feather light, almost tickling him. “I like to prepare my cows, get you boys ready so that once you’re old enough to be milked, the probes won’t hurt so much.”

Jensen teeth gnashed against the bit as a finger pushed in between his cheeks. “Please no.” He tried to say, even through the bit, but it didn’t help. “Shhh, don’t worry, this won’t hurt.” And then a slippery finger moved further in and he nearly roared up, he would have if it hadn’t been for Mister Padalecki’s hand on his back. “You’re doing fine. It’s nothing to worry about.”  
Jensen felt his eyes tearing up again, leaving stain on the leather. 

“See, that wasn’t so bad.” Padalecki then said as his finger was pulled out. “We’ve just got to get you used to this and then we can see about more.”  
Jensen curled up on the table as soon as the older man let go. Padalecki gently caressed his arm, moving down to Jensen’s legs. “It’s for your own good, little one. This is going to happen, so why not enjoy it.” Fingers touched his dick and Jensen desperately pulled away from him. “Still so shy. But you’ll learn.”  
Jensen didn’t even want to face the others when he was brought back to the stable, when the chain was reattached to his ankle. He just crumbled, crying. He was glad to be ignored.

 

*****

 

 

Whomever said that farming ambrosia was easy, had never tried to get ten separate calves trained for milking. Every last one of them convinced he was some kind of bogey man, no matter how gentle he tried to be. Sometimes he wished that schools would spend some time teaching children that there was nothing wrong with private touches, long as they were done by one's parents or owners. That way some of his calves might actually be halfway prepared for the life that waited for them, before they fell in his hands. But then, most schools didn't like to consider that any of the kids they spent time or effort on would end up on a farm instead of going off to further education.

Most schools saw people like him as monsters, useful as the occasional threat to kids that didn't know how to behave, but still monsters who took students, and thus funds, away from them. Sometimes Jared wished they'd actually learn from their own history and remembered how things had been before the invention of Ambrosia. 

Classrooms filled to the brink with kids whose parents could barely even afford to feed one, let out the ones they actually had. Hooligans roaming the streets causing trouble for everyone. 

Nowadays most kids were grateful to be allowed to go to school, no kid with any sense would make themselves a pest to their parents,and the ones that did and kept causing trouble were sold, either by their parents choice, or by the authorities who got tired of cleaning up after wayled youngers who ran around without supervision or a care in their heads.

He’d been preparing the nectar mix for the cows gruel when Chris dropped off his first appointment of the morning. The new cow stood still for a moment, until Jared motioned at the table. The calf climbed up, waiting shakily. Jared finished the nectar, It was a chemical mix that farmers like him had been working on for years. The labs were good and well, but it was the people in the field, people like Jared, who tried out the latest new variations of nectar and saw the results first hand.

Nectar had been invented over a century ago, at first the scientists who came up with it, figured it was just a fertility drug. When given to men, it would give them more stamina and help them get it up. The drug was almost banned, considered a failure when the scientists realized that it lowered the lifespan of the people it was given to. Altering them at a genetic level in ways they couldn't even begin to imagine.

It was purely by accident that the drugs beneficial side effects were discovered. Women, or men, dating people using the drugs soon found themselves developing more stamina, their health improved and it helped the system fight strains of cancer. It took some more experimentation before the scientists realized the exact effect on their subjects bodyfluids.

It was soon seen as a miracle drug, but even then scientists hadn't fully grasped just what the nectar was truly capable of. Not until long after they tried recreating the ambrosia, first chemically, then by using animals. Neither of them worked out. 

It wasn't until Steiner's long term experiment that they found the best way of producing Ambrosia. Steiner at the time had been working part time at a facility for Juvenal delinquents in LA. Over a period of years, he would feed the children under his care nectar, and then milk them at night, when the other guardians were gone. Steiner was of course a widely disputed figure, most agreed that his experiments had been no more than an excuse to take advantage of the children in his care. But despite that his diligence in keeping notes came to a startling conclusion.The younger a child started up on nectar, the stronger the affect of the ambrosia they ended up producing. The only limitation was that if the nectar was fed to a child younger than eight, the result could be destructive, even lethal.

Those kids ended up being the first cows. Even if they hadn't been called that at the time. People just didn't know what to do with them. No one wanted the ambrosia they could produce to be lost. Especially not once scientists discovered that the ambrosia they produced could not just cure people that drank it, but it could stall their aging to almost half. 

As the boys grew up and started developing sexually, it made their sperm … special, stronger, turning it from regular sperm into pure energy, highly potent, incredibly addictive and capable of not just extending the human life span, but in most people it increased human stamina with a hundred percent, and that was just the basic benefits. 

And then they found out another side effect, the breeders, it was then that people realized the truth, the children given the nectar were no longer human, they were something other, something valuable, but most definitely not human. All of the original subjects, even the ones initially returned to their parents, or released in their own custody, were brought back in after that.

Human rights organizations tried to speak up against it, but by then it was already too late. Even as Steiner eventually got released from prison, the children he'd used were placed in special farms, the first of the Ambrosia farms. It didn't take long for them to be joined by others. After all, Ambrosia was valuable, expensive, important and who cared about kids in foster care, lost orphans with no one to claim them, juvenile delinquents or plain out, the unlucky ones whose parents were steeped in debt and who had no other way to pull their lives together again, than to sell the one possession they still had left, their sons.

Jared's grandfather had started this farm a little over a century ago. The Padalecki name stood for something, for quality even beyond Jared's own talents.

What made Jared’s milk better than that of most other farmers in the area was a special ingredient he put in his gruel, it changed the flavor of the milk, improving its taste a thousand fold, but only if the cow in question wasn’t filled with adrenaline. It made Ambrosia connoisseurs of all over the country travel even for days if needed, just to buy some of Jared’s Milk. Earning him more money in the current system, than he could ever gain, even by doubling his livestock, by treating them in standardized manners.

The calf lay still on the table. Jared pulled away the bandage that still covered the brand, and added some more cream to help the burn heal. Then he finally took a label out of one of the containers on the table, he attached it to a ring and held Jensen’s face down on the table as he pierced the helix of the earlobe. Careful to only pierce the cartilage where he had to. Then he put in a color, showing the calf’s age as eight. 

The calf was shaking and Jared gently caressed its sides until the shaking died down. He pulled a sugar cube out of his pocket, split it in four and slipped it thorugh the bit and in between the calf's lips. 

Jared could see Jensen was still sucking on the cubes as he continued his work on the calf’s back and ass, fondling both, until the boy curved up to his touch. Jensen was still scared of him, but Jared was careful as he once again pressed a finger into the calf’s hole.   
“There you go, soon you’ll be ready for two, won’t you like that, little one?”

It was obvious from the spooked look in the calf’s eyes that it wouldn’t, but Jared didn’t care to let that stop him. When he removed his finger, he grabbed a small plug, about the size of an eraser and as thick as two pencils. He put it into the calf’s hole for a moment, knowing it wouldn’t sink deeper because of the wide base. The calf’s muscles would try and move it back out, but Jared didn’t care about that. “Try and keep it in.” he said anyway, but knowing the poor animal would fail. They all did, at this point. Then he made the calf sit up and got it to its feet, made it walk around, hunch and kneel, easy obedience routines, hindered by the distraction as the calf’s body tried to get rid of the obstacle inside of it. 

“Now whenever you see me or one of my men come, or when the bell rings, or even when one of my men tells you that Jared, that’s me, is coming, you kneel down and wait for orders. That’s a simple rule, right?”

Jensen tried to say something, but couldn’t get his tongue past the bit. He ended up nodding instead. Jared rewarded him with a pat on the head. Feeding the calf another part of the sugarcube, feeling its tongue on his finger tips as it accepted the treat.

“So what should you do now?” Jensen quickly sank to his knees. “That’s a good boy.” Jared gently prodded the boy’s side, making him spread his legs a bit so the young cow’s dick was within easy access. “There’s one other position that you need to learn that’s very very important. It’s best that you practice it as often as you can, because in a few years you’ll be expected to hold it for hours if needed." Jared could see shivers rippling under the calf’s skin, and he gently caressed its back to sooth its distress. “The first thing you do is to stay on your knees, then you bend your front. You can support your face with your arms, crossing them if you want to. As if your bowing down to me. Then you let your ass sit up in the air and stretch your thighs a bit for support." 

He waited for Jensen to follow his instructions and wasn’t disappointed when the cow did so. “See, there’s a good boy. Such a good boy.” He patted the ass in front of him, feeling it up, kneading the flesh under his hand. “It’s as if you were made for this life, weren’t you little one, born to serve.”

The cow's trembling increased and Jared let the poor thing finish shaking, before helping it to get back up. He was almost surprised when the cow got to its feet and pulled back against the wall, struggling against the bit in its mouth. 

“Does that scare you, boy.” Jared went up to the calf, his hands moving along the boy’s hips. “It shouldn’t, you should be happy, you’re barely eight years old, and you’ve already got your purpose in life. Do you know how many people in the world wander around, getting themselves in trouble, looking for the one thing that fate has handed to you on a silver platter? The chance to have purpose, to be what you were meant to be.”

Jensen tried to twist out of his way, but Jared couldn’t allow that. His dick growing hard in his pants as he pushed up to the young cow’s skin. It’s body, so small, so compact compared to his own larger one. Then something plopped down and Jared saw the plug stuck between the boy and the wall. He was pleased, Jensen had actually managed to last longer than he'd expected from a calf that young. Not that he could let the poor thing know that.

“A shame, to think I was going to reward you. But I can’t do that, if you can’t even keep a small plug inside of you for more than a few minutes. If you can’t even cope with so little a thing, how could I ever expect you to handle your probe." The cow would see it as punishment, its body in pain, but in reality it was no more than a lesson, a warning of what could happen if he wasn’t more careful in the future. “I was going to let you take out your bit for a while, you’d have liked that, wouldn’t you? The calf managed to bite his lips even with the bit in place. It made Jared wonder what those lips would feel like on his dick. 

He picked the calf up without even the slightest hint of effort and sat down on the table, the small body spread across his lap. It didn’t take long to get into a rhythm, slowly, but surely, stopping every once and a while, when the calf’s eyes seemed to daze over and the effect of the lesson would have been lost. 

He left it at twenty slaps, nothing compared to a real punishment, but then this wasn’t about punishing the calf on his lap, it was about teaching it to hold on to whatever he gave it, whether it was a plug, a probe or his dick. Just a small object, as the start of its training. He let go of the calf, allowing it to get back on its feet. 

Shaky, but standing.

“Now go play outside and send in number three sixty three.”  
The calf rushed outside and started looking at its brothers, looking for the right number, finding the young calf it belonged to underneath one of the trees. Jared watched as Jensen touched the other calf’s arm and pointed at the shack. 

The two calves looked amazing together. Jensen and Daisy, or at least that was the name he'd given the other calf in his head, because whenever he let them play outside, it seemed to end up in the daisy batch, like it had now. The boy's original name had been Misha, which was nice enough, but sounded far too human for a cow, so he never bothered with it. Not that he used the name Daisy outside of his own head. The calves were too young to get a stable name so soon, they hadn't even displayed their characteristics yet. Maybe when they fell into production he would name them for real. He wasn't sure if he should let Jensen keep his name or not, even if he was one of the few whom he'd actually known before they got tagged. It wouldn't really be fair to the other cows. He turned away from the window and waited for his next job. 

He just wished he knew what it was that felt so… wrong. He ran a good business, was friends with all the men who worked for him, his cows were doing well… but still, he missed something. He just kept hoping for something, for the impossible. Even if he knew that it was far too much to ask for, Especially then. 

But then again, what Ambrosia farmer didn’t hope for the ultimate…


	3. Chapter 3

Jensen could feel his stomach rumbling like a monster ready to growl and grab him up. The floor of his booth was some kind of plastic mattress, soft enough to be comfortable and probably easy to clean. It felt like the plastic couch his mom had kept outside for summer, before they'd had to sell it. Almost as soft as a mattress, but able to withstand water. Jensen rubbed his fingers into the stuff, trying to leave a trace, but even though it gave in, it came back up just as soon. The sides of the booth were made of the same kind of material, it felt warm to the touch, warmer than it should be, but not warm enough to sting or leave burns.

They were cleaned once a day, Jensen and his age group got their turn in the middle of the day in between the other two groups shifts. They would get taken to the raster and told to stand still while Chad or Chris soaped them up before the other turned the water spray on them. The spray was harsh, but nicely heated up, so it wasn't too uncomfortable. They never lingered under it, not that they would even if they hadn't been pushed aside as soon as they were clean, but...

Jensen liked it better when Chris did the soaping up, Chad tended to let his hands stray while he was doing it, his touch always lingering on spots that Jensen really didn't want anyone touching, especially Chad. With Chris it was just business, nice even, like when Jensen was little and his mom would put him and Mac in the tub and she'd do his hair while Mac was playing with her ducks right next to him.

And then there was the food.

So far he’d managed to ignore the bowl placed in front of them both in the morning and the evening. He still remembered how he’d tried to pick it up that first day. He hadn't really wanted to look at it, but he was hungry and it was the only food they were getting. Chad had seen it and used a liner to slap Jensen's hands away from it. It was only then that he’d seen the other boys lean over their bowls and eat out of them like Icarus used to do. Their faces barely fitting in the bowl, their mouths and cheeks and the floor around their bowls covered in the brown smudge as they desperately tried to get the stuff past the bits framing their lips.

Chris would turn the spray in each booth afterwards, food leftovers drained in a hole at the back of the booth, leaving the floor wet and cold until the warm air of the stable and the heating in the walls dried things up again.

It was just one indignity too many for Jensen to take. It didn’t help that what little he’d managed to grab out of the bowl with his hands tasted like the stuff that came out of Icarus favorite brand of chow. Since that first day, he’d stuck to eating some of the fruits that were always around for them to grab. Fruits and the occasional bit of tomato or carrot. But he couldn’t take too many of those, the older boys would push him away if he took too many, if he took more than his share. They never hurt him, but the way their eyes moved to the other kids, it shamed him, made him realize he wasn't the only one who wanted to eat something with actual taste beyond bland. Besides, their keepers would notice if they kept seeing him at the fruitbench, so most of the time he remained hungry. 

Once again the bell rang through the stable, its noise resounding through every hook and cranny of the large room. Jensen stood frozen as everyone else rushed to their booths. The chaos of it all was gone within seconds, leaving the open spaces of the stable empty except for Jensen.

He was cold and hungry, and he had a hard time breathing, as his heart kept thrumming in his chest. It got worse with every passing second as he stared at the doors. He knew it wouldn't be long now. He knew he should get out of sight, do as he was told, but instead. He stayed put, unable to move..

Padalecki, Jared, he was wrong. Jensen wasn’t meant for this, he wasn’t an animal, he just wasn’t. So why did part of him want to run to his booth and kneel down like a good little cow? 

The doors opened and Jensen was the only one still standing, he wasn’t too far from his booth, the chain still locked him too tight to get to the edges of the stable. He stared at the three men coming in and backed off a step as he saw the look in their eyes upon spotting him.

“Three six five.” Jensen had never actually seen his own number, but he’d heard it used often enough that he knew it by heart. The worst bit was that Jared didn’t sound angry, disappointed, yes, but not angry. Chad seemed amused for the most part, as if he had to fight back a chuckle, while Chris was wiping the sleep out of his eyes.

Jensen knew he should get to his booth and kneel, or at the very least, kneel where he stood. He knew that he was in enough trouble already, and that by remaining where he was, he was only making things worse. And still he couldn’t do it. He just couldn’t. He knew, knew he had to stop thinking of himself as a human being. That even if he did manage to get past the chain on his ankle, or the locks on the stable, even if he got past the electrified fences and guard dogs, that even if he did get away from here, it wouldn’t change things. He’d just be a runaway cow, people who'd find him would have to bring him in to the police so he could be returned to his 'rightful owner'. If they didn't, they could get charged with theft. He was chipped and tagged after all. His human life was over, he knew that. But he couldn’t help clinging to it, couldn’t help feeling ashamed, standing here nakedly, couldn’t help the shame of being made to kneel, couldn't stand the food or feeling like a pig, the way they were forced to eat. But then, according to everyone, they weren't anything more than pigs, just another species of domestic livestock, and pretending he wasn't, was just another way of fooling himself.

He didn’t want to eat the gruel, was there ever a more appropriate word? He didn’t want to bend over and kneel and play fetch, he didn’t want Jared's hands on him, or Chad touching him during their wash, or any of this.

So he stood there, frozen like a deer in the spotlights. Even when Jared marched his way, Jensen just took a step back, and then another, until he was inches away from his booth and he stopped. He wasn’t going in. He couldn’t. He wouldn't! 

The farmer towered over him and Jensen could hear his bones shaking underneath his skin. He could imagine why people might piss themselves in fear. The urge was strong enough to do so now, to just let go and show his neck, to submit, to be good.

“Last chance three six five.” Jared didn’t even have to give an order, Jensen knew what he was supposed to do. But there’s no way he could ever bring himself to do so. Jensen knew that if he gave in now, he’d give in forever. So he stood his ground. If he were any braver, and if his mouth weren’t dry from the bit, he’d have spat at the man.

The next thing he knew, a leash was slapped on to his bit and he was pulled along, face first, until he was forced to his knees in front of an empty brick wall right next to the supplies. The only thing decorating the bricks was a set of large metal hooks.

It was only when Chad grabbed a pair of shackles out of the supply box that Jensen started struggling. He was forced down to the ground, shackled and his bit was tightened until he couldn’t even open his mouth anymore. Then Jared grabbed the shackles and pulled them over the hook. The chains were barely long enough that he was able to keep his toes to the floor. His arms stung, holding his weight, as the metal cut into his flesh.

Then he was turned so he was facing the wall, shortening the chains till he hung up against the wall, forcing even more weight on his wrists.

Jensen still couldn’t let himself fall slack, desperately trying to get a hold, anything to get away, kick someone. Instead he felt the sting of something sharp hitting his back and buttocks. Not just once, but over and over until he could hear nothing but the sound of whatever was now hitting his flesh.

In the end he was turned around, forced to face Jared.  
“Such a shame, and to think you were doing so well.”Jensen hadn’t felt the tears starting to drop, but he couldn’t ignore them as Jared wiped them away with his giant hand. “It’s alright boy, I’m not angry, I know this is hard on you.” He released the shackles and let Jensen sink to the floor. Jensen couldn’t help notice his blood smearing the wall. “I want you to do well, three six five, I want you to thrive here. But you can’t do that if you won’t do what’s best for you.”

And his voice sounded so damn kind as he said that, as if he regretted that Jensen had forced this punishment upon himself, that Jensen started sobbing, the echoes of it resounding behind his closed mouth and shaking body.

Gentle hands took care of his wounds and the balm soothed away the immediate pain, but not the memory. Jensen let himself be pulled into a hug by Jared and sobbed in the farmer’s arms. He wanted to hate the man for what he’d done, for what he was still doing, but Jared kept caressing his face, touching Jensen’s nipples and Jensen couldn’t help lean into the touch, because it almost kept away the thoughts and screams that wanted to come out.

He let himself drop lax as Jared carried him over to his booth and he sank down, crying. “There there boy, you’re forgiven. “ Jensen stared up at him, so grateful that he couldn’t help himself from getting up to a full kneel, before pressing his face to the floor in supplication. Jared petted his head, loosened his bit and left him to the booth. The other … cows were already put to work, Jensen stared at the bowl put in front of him, he still couldn’t bring himself to eat it.

 

****

 

Jared couldn't even bring himself to pretend he was the slightest bit surprised that Jensen finally tried to rebel. In a way he was relieved it had happened so soon. Every cow in his stable had tried to stand up for themselves sooner or later, some in small things, other in large rebellions and escape attempt. The only thing that had shocked him, was how long it had taken Jensen before he boiled over. 

He took his time to clean the flogger before handing it back to Chad. No good farmer left the care for his tools to others who had no real investment in using them. He owed it to his cows to prevent infections, and keep his tools whole so they wouldn't barb up and cause injuries far worse than the punishment asked for.

Then he took a quick tour around the rest of his stock, calming them down, soothing them with soft caresses and gentle prodding as they ate their gruel before the probes were activated for the ones in production. He was always careful to let them get lost in the sensation before starting the milking tubes. Some might lose a few drops before the tubes started sucking them into completion, but by then every last trace of adrenaline would have died down, along with the sour taste it brought to the ambrosia.

The stable was quiet for the most part, Chris and Chad were joking in the corner, waiting till the cows were finished. Chad had put on some music, twentieth century rock, again. Jared wondered if he should save the cows from his first hands taste in music any time soon. But so far they seemed to be taking it alright. He'd learned a long time ago there were some things you just did not do to cows, no matter what. There were some things no living thing deserved, not even as punishment. Early 21st century bubble pop was one of those things.

All the cows were focused on their gruel, some eager, or just trying to get it over with, others taking their time with every bite. There was the usual tension in the room as the day was about to begin for all of them. Whether right after they finished they got themselves in position to be hooked up for milking, or if they just pushed their bowl out of the way and sat back, waiting for him and his men to leave so they could be free to take a walk and sit with their favorite companions. He didn't begrudge them the companionship, as long as they understood the limitations. There was nothing that soured ambrosia as quickly as the despair of true loneliness. 

He was glad to notice that Chad had washed off the painted wall already, the surface had been designed specifically for easy cleaning, so it didn’t take more than a spray of water and some soap. But at least it wouldn't remind his cows too much of what had happened. Not that they weren't used to it by now.

Jared turned his focus back on Jensen and noticed the calf was still staring at its gruel. It wasn’t eating. He knew the portions, and none of it was gone. Jared wondered if he should send someone over to the vet, have the calf checked over. A whipping like that could easily ruin a calf’s appetite for days. It's just...Jensen looked thinner than he’d been when he arrived. Most of the puppy fat was gone from his belly and face, and Jared knew it would be too simple to blame the instant weight loss on the healthy food his cows were served. In comparison to most mainstream lunches in the average American family, his cows had a balanced diet, keeping them strong, fertile. It might not look like much, but even hospital diets weren't as well thought out as his cow's meals.

He peered at the calf, touching its chin for a second as he did so. Jared still had a problem what to do with his hands when he wasn't actually using them, it's why he liked to keep busy. 

“Hey boss.“ Jared got out of the way of the cart as he noticed Chad was already cleaning up the bowls and the cows that came with them as they were finished. Standing quietly as he could hear

“Chad, just wondering, but has anyone been keeping an eye on how much 365 has been eating?” By now, Jensen's bowl was one of the only ones that wasn't gone, the calf hadn't even tried to hide it. It wasn't that they all always finished their bowls, some just weren't as hungry and Chad always served too much. But even he couldn't have filled the bowl any fuller than it still was.

"I don’t know, he always seems to be eating when he’s left alone." Chad messed around with the bowls on his cart, emptying out the worst before stacking them up.

"Oh?"

"I’ve had to increase the fruit and vegetable amount over the past few days, he always seems to be nibbling on some kind of green whenever he doesn’t notice me looking at him."

“But what about his gruel?”

“Jay, I don’t even want to look at that crap, let out watching any of them pig out on the stuff. It’s gross, I don’t even know why you don’t just put their nectar in something even the slightest bit more appetizing.”

Jared huffed, he knew he was defensive about it. Chad hadn’t been here long enough to remember. A mere fifteen years, while Jared had held the farm for the past thirty, ever since he’d inherited it from his father. The man had adopted him, given him everything he could have ever hoped for and he'd nearly ruined it all in a matter of months.

He’d been so young then, a mere twenty two, he’d only just started on ambrosia a few years earlier and his aging was already slowing down. He’d been so naive, a true fool, ignoring all of his father’s lessons and thinking he knew better. Not to say his father had been right about all of them, but he hadn’t nearly been as wrong as Jared had wanted to believe he was. His father had died in a car crash, shortly before Jared finished college and Jared had come home to take over the farm from his father's first hand, the man who'd been doing the job until Jared was ready.

It wasn't what he'd wanted to do with his life, but he owed it to his father, so he did. He'd been back during summers and vacations of course, but it was nothing compared to having to run the place and he'd had so so many fresh and new ideas on how to handle things.

The first thing he’d done was change up the gruel, he'd hired a proper cook for the cows, injecting the nectar in the cow’s soup and stews. And for a while, they’d flourished. Eating like humans, walking like humans, covered in blankets at night and wearing clothes outside, like they were humans. He’d even let them read and play board games in their time off. And Jared had looked down on all the farmers who just wouldn’t see that the cows deserved some kind of kindness.   
He’d never even thought to expect a rebellion. 

Because you see, the more human he allowed his cows to be, the more they started thinking of themselves as deserving more than what they got. They started whining about the probes, begging him not to take them for the night, wanting to leave. It wasn’t enough that they were treated better than any other cow in the world had a right to be, once they started thinking of themselves as human, several of them just couldn’t take it anymore. They started to think they were better than what they were, that they deserved more than they got. And when their escape attempt failed and Jared had to punish them, they tried again. He'd tried to talk to them, and then one of them had looked at him as if he were the fool and turned its back on him.

The worst ones had been the breeders. Jared’s father had owned about twenty of them. An unheard number on any other farm Jared knew of. Farms from all over the country had tried for years to buy one of the Padalecki breeders or any of their offspring. Sixteen Alphas, four Omegas, two of the Omegas had been pregnant.

Jared hadn’t even done anything out of the ordinary, he’d just arranged to sell a pair of the farmborns to a friend of his. Even the youngest calf was well over two, so it was more than old enough to be separated from its Omega-parent. But the moment the breeders realized what he had planned they’d staged a rebellion amongst all the cows. Winding up the Betas until they went along with them. It had been wide scale chaos.

Not all of them rebelled, some genuinely went docile with better treatment and huddled in their booths while their brothers smashed equipment and tried to wreck whatever they got their hands on. It was the quiet ones that ended up taken out covered in dust, and blood after the police marched in to fight the uprising. And he'd stood there, hearing the gunfire, watching the smoke of the fires breaking out on the second stable and the nursery. He'd had to watch the body bags get taken out of the barns and brought to the open clearing. So much wasted in one day. 

In the end he’d had no choice, all the breeders were sent to a lab for testing. The doctors wanted to be sure if that urge for violence in the alphas was innate or not, and they always asked for more Omegas, hoping to finally figure out what it was that made them tick. The nursery was found destroyed, someone had gone around the room and killed every last one of the farmborns, lying them down with their favorite toys or blankets before smothering them with a pillow. 

That part of it had been the worst, and he still had no answer as to why they'd done it.

The other rebels got off easier, five of them had to be put down, too damaged to ever serve again. Broken bones, pierced organs... All his other cows were relocated by Animal Services and the sum he got in exchange for them had been a mere shard of what he and his father had paid to buy or breed them in the first place.

He still didn’t know where most of them had ended up, other farms, factories,... some of the older ones got sent to the mines, probably to die within years or even months.. He’d never forgotten, either them, or the cost of his kindness. 

So he went to take the proscribed classes, animal husbandry, cow psychology 101, and he came to realize his biggest mistake. He should never even have considered allowing his cows to think of themselves as humans. It started with food, continued with housing, and moved on to how they were talked to.

The cows needed to be reminded they weren’t human, not just daily, but every moment of their life. They needed to accept their place, not for his sake, because it would actually be easier if he let them take some responsibility for themselves instead of treating them like the animals they were. No, it wasn't for his sake, it was for theirs. He was responsible over every last one of the cows in his stable and if keeping them happy with their lot in life meant feeding them gruel then he would do so and be proud of it.

It was all about mindset and expectations. Treat someone like a human, let them think of themselves as human and they start dreaming and hoping of more. Treat them like animals, and they’ll be surprised at every hint of kindness and sink away in submission and obedience. The hard part was getting them to the right mind space so they stopped dreaming of a life beyond the farm and accepted their place in the world.

And that was the problem with Jensen. Jared had let himself be lured in by his easy obedience, by the young calf’s fear of him and his men. It wasn’t until now that Jensen had finally dared to stand up for itself, that Jared was able to realize it had been rebelling all along. Not in a big way, he would have noticed that sooner, but in refusing to eat its actual food, starving itself bit by bit.

The bowl in front of Jensen’s booth was still full and the young cow cowered back as soon as it saw him. A clear sign of guilt. Jared knew he should just remove the temptation of the rabbit stuff, but how to do that without limiting the diet of his other cows. It was only as he looked up at the drinking bottle that he remembered the last time he’d had a picky eater. 

He went up to the cabinets and got out an old pastry bag, it used to belong to the old cook who worked for his dad when he was a kid. She'd used it to spread cream or icing on cakes, until one day Jared and Bertie had stolen it from the kitchen to use as some primitive sort of water pistol. He still didn't quite know how it'd ended up in the stable afterwards. it would be perfect for Jared’s purpose. 

The first thing he did was tighten the shackles on the cow’s chain, before pulling out three other chains, pinning the calf’s hands to the sides of the booth and forcing it to sit up. Then he grabbed a spoon, filling the bag with the gruel, leaving it on top of the bowl while he got the last thing he needed, a more suitable bit. It would force the cow’s mouth open, leaving a space in between, just large enough for his dick, or the tube of the bag.

Unable to close his mouth, Jensen had no choice but to either swallow or choke. Jared was happy to find that the idea of giving up and just dying didn’t even enter Jensen’s mind.

By the time all the gruel was gone, Jared closed off the lid in the bit, keeping the calf from tossing it back up, before leaving the new bit in position while he thought about a way to get the calf to eat like it should. He expected a defiant look from Jensen when he turned back to face the calf, anger, maybe even hatred. He didn’t expect for the calf to sit there broken, staring at nothing. It had never looked more beautiful.


	4. Chapter 4

He felt his knees on the floor, the cold of the chains on his skin. Lights flashed before his eyes as he desperately dragged for breath that wouldn't come. Oh God, he was dying. 

Jensen felt the gruel forcing its way down, filling his mouth, his throat, leaving him no space to breathe. He had no choice but to swallow the stuff or he’d have blacked out. He couldn’t help wishing he’d done that instead. 

He expected Jared to be angry with him afterwards, but he wasn’t. The man, their owner, proprietor - the word flashed in his head as something he'd once heard his mom use when she talked about estate sales - just stood there, with his eyes focused on Jensen. Jensen couldn’t help noticing the man’s tongue as he licked his lips, wetting his lips. Jensen looked away, curling up against the side of the booth. 

The man wasn't even angry as he left the larger bit in Jensen's mouth. Jensen felt his mouth dry out, his tongue was stuck to the bottom of his mouth, it itched and it hurt and there was nothing he could do to stop it. The itch was almost worse than the pain coming from his back and wrists. Most of the pain turned to a general soreness soon, but the itch in his mouth remained. His lips bruised along the plastic of the new bit and he couldn't even chew on anything to get rid of the itch.

That week Jensen just stood up, sat down and did whatever their owner or their keepers told him to do. He woke up in the morning as the bell rang, and waited for Jared to come at him with the bag. Too scared to move an inch out of his booth and not be there when Jared came. The bit was opened, and the gruel was forced through it by using the pastry bag and Jensen did all in his power not to choke. By now, even the idea of seeing 'the bag' filled him with so much terror that he waited for permission even before relieving himself. 

Behaving so perfectly that the kid across of him once rolled his eyes at him over it. Jensen flinched away from him, and the boy later on came up to him, petting his hand in a quiet apology. Jensen wanted, needed to re-earn Jared's trust. There was no other choice. 

He didn't fight their rules, didn't hesitate against their orders, didn’t even try to pull back when at the end of the week Jared told him to get on the table and pushed not one, but two fingers in Jensen’s hole. 

Jensen breathed heavily throughout it all, and he wished he could scream when the two fingers split apart, touching stuff inside of him.  
He closed his eyes and tried to just stay put and be quiet. Desperately wishing to be somewhere, anywhere else. He tried to imagine being with his parents, but whenever they did, he imagined Jared's face looming over them, telling them what a good cow he was.

At least Jared didn’t expect him to do anything other than lie there and take it. He could do that, he had to. Even when Jared's one hand was messing around inside of him, while his other was stroking Jensen's balls, making something ache right behind them. An cramp that had been getting worse throughout the week.

The feeling didn't stop, even when Jared got up from the table, and it remained when he came back with the same black thing he'd put in Jensen's asshole the week before.

Jensen winced, almost pulling away for a moment when the thing hit the touchy spot, it hurt, it hurt worse than anything else he'd felt since he was sold. But that didn't matter, he shouldn't have flinched, he should have stayed quiet, obedient, do as told.

Jared lifted one finger, warning one, and waited for Jensen to regain control of himself before continuing. This time when the spot was hit, Jensen managed to fight the pain long enough to stay in place, until the plug slipped into his hole.

Jensen did his best, he really did. He didn’t want another beating, but as soon as he had to open his legs, and stand up, the thing slipped back out again. Jared just put it back in, it slipped again.

Was he supposed to be that wet down there? He didn't know, not what was wrong with him and why he was so stupid he couldn't get even this one little thing right.

Jared told him he had to train his muscles to hold objects in. Jensen had no idea how he was supposed to do that. Even if he tried to imagine he had to hold up to go to the toilet, it only made him need to pee even more. In response Jared grabbed some other plastic thingamagig that looked like a small banana stuck on a stand. 

He didn't bother to smooth it up this time, just gently pushed it into Jensen until it was as deep as it'd ever get. Or so Jensen hoped.

At the end of the session Jared had finally removed the new bit and replaced it with his old one. Jensen couldn't begin to show his gratitude for its loss. Jared knew a start, as he had Jensen lick his fingers clean to show his grattitude.

”I expect you to eat on your own from now on, Jensen, taking care of yourself is part of your duties to me.”

So when they were given their food in the evening, he could feel Jared’s eyes on him. Jared, and Chad, even Chris kept looking at him to make sure he was eating. So he followed everyone else’s example and pushed his face into the bowl, carefully sucking and licking up as much of the gruel as he could manage to get into himself, before his body tried to throw it all back up.

Jensen felt disgusted, but every time he even considered rebelling, he saw Jared or one of the two stable hands look his way and he remembered the sting on his back and buttocks. The feel of the larger bit in his mouth. After that any thought of refusing an order or standing out in any way, disappeared with a flash.

It wasn’t so much that the gruel tasted bad, it was bland, tasteless, but otherwise edible enough. It was the way it looked, like vomit, wiped up from the floor and boiled into a brown smudge that made dog buiscuits look like a luxuary. Not that they’d let him throw it back up, they kept watching him, until it was far too late to get rid of it, at least he thought it was.

He’d lost Jared’s trust, and he wished to hell and high heavens that it didn’t matter. Why should he possibly care what the man thought of him? 

Except for the scariest reason of them all.

His back still hurt, even after a week, he could barely stand to sit, there was something that kept itching, no matter how much he tried to ignore it, and he was still shackled to his booth whenever their keepers weren’t around to watch them. The shackle was annoying and it chafed, but who was he going to complain about it too, even if he were allowed to talk? His fellow cows? The ones who were stuck chained up most of the day while him and the other kids at least got to play around, or their keepers, who'd just pat him on the head at best? 

He’d seen some of the older cows whose tongues had been cut out, and seeing that made it clear he should keep as quiet as he possibly could. He didn’t want Jared to decide he couldn’t keep quiet on his own, even with the damn bit in his mouth at all times. 

Jared was scarier than any of Josh's scary movies that Jensen hadn't been allowed to watch, but that he couldn't help but do so when their parents didn't notice it. Scarier even than the guy with knives on his hands. It shouldn’t be all that odd, Jared was the one who kept doing the bad touch stuff, and he’d also been the one to punish and brand him, so Jensen had every reason in the world to fear him for those things. But oddly enough, that wasn’t when he was most scared of the man.

He realized well enough that Jared had every right to touch him when and where, whenever he wanted. Jared had paid for that right, and no matter how much Jensen might hate it, no matter how much he wanted it all to stop, it was no more than he should expect from the man. In a way, looking at the size of the probes used on the other cows, he should probably be happy that Jared was willing to let him get used to 'stuff' things down… there, before pushing one of those huge things inside of him. 

So really, he wasn’t all that scared of the bits that should scare him, because they’d been unavoidable from the second his father had sold him. It was't that, that had him crying after every session, every meeting and every time Jared even looked at him.

Jared was kind. Not just fake kind, but nice, that look he sometimes got in his eyes, pride, and disappointment and even, he hesitated to admit it, affection. Like he cared. Jensen didn’t want him to care. Because if he cared then he couldn’t be a monster, but if he wasn’t a monster, then why did he do all those horrible things to Jensen and the others? And if he wasn't a monster and he still did those things, then what was wrong with Jensen, that he couldn't just get over it and get used to it?

How could someone hurt kids that badly and not be a monster? It just made no sense. 

After food it was time for the usual lottery. It had happened every night for the two weeks that Jensen had been here now. Most of the time it had just been Jared. Though at least once this week Chad had been allowed to pick a number as well. But it was clear that wasn’t the rule from the way Jared mentioned it as a reward for Chad. Something to do with an award he got the farm, Jensen hadn’t really been listening to most of it. 

But every single night, Jared would pull out a bag and pick a number. Any number. The kid who’s number he’d call would then get up and follow their owner outside. Jensen had so far tried not to stare after the boy who got picked. Tonight it was one of the yellows, they were the ones that had only just been hooked to the probes. The boy had looked as if he were struck by lightning when he got up from his booth. His dick hung heavily between his legs.It was a clear sign that the kid was an alpha, they were normally larger down there than regular people, even when soft. The idea of staring at another boy's dick made him blush and Jensen quickly looked away.

Jared had put the leash on his bit and the boy had been looking around at the others as if quietly praying for any of them to take his place.

He wouldn’t return until the next morning, just like all the others who’d left with Jared in the evening. He’d skulk back in, freshly washed, his hair still wet, bruises covering his skin. Some came back crying, others as if it was all old hat. If there was one thing he really wanted to ask the others, it was what happened with those boys that got picked to go with Jared. Where did they go? And why?

But talking was a human thing, and they weren’t human.

 

*****

 

Sometimes Jared wondered about the life he’d chosen. About the choices he’d made. Maybe he should have just sold the farm after his father died and become a doctor, a scientist, anything that he had thought about becoming when he was a kid. The life that would have had his father turning over in his grave for his heir's betrayal. 

And then Jared opened his eyes and looked down at the body below him, seeing its flesh shiver underneath his hands, begging for release as Jared forced a rhythm on its ass that was far more forceful than the one from the probe. He would come, his hand on the cow's shoulder, cupping the shape of the handshaped brand. The Padalecki mark with the cow's number inside of it. 

Three five nine. What letter in the alphabet were they at this month anyway, he'd have to ask Chad before naming the thing. There was a reason for tradition after all.

Jared pulled himself out of the far too delectable ass of the night’s choice and let go, leaving the young cow’s ass wet and sticky. His thoughts still meandering as he thought about a stable name for the cowering animal underneath him. “Roll over.” He ordered, the cow complied instantly. The thing was about thirteen, fourteen in a few months. It was already hard, its knot inflated behind the ring, already thick and begging for release. He didn’t put much effort into making his cows holding it in, after all, to do so would be against their nature and purpose, instead relying on the cock ring to hold back the cow’s milk until he had a proper receptacle at ready. 

And then the burst of ambrosia would hit his tongue as it passed his lips, down to his tongue and throat, sucking it like one would a popsicle, it’s knot an easy place to grab hold of as it tried to push past his lips and he wouldn’t allow it. He forced the ring back in position like turning the faucet on a vat of wine.

He covered the cows stomach with kisses while feeling the power build underneath him, as he made the young cow beg for more. It was the only time of the day he would ever allow them to talk without punishment, after all, it was kind of satisfying to feel those young bodies almost fall apart underneath him. To hear them scream and beg him for mercy. It almost made them seem human, even as their insatiable appetite proved beyond a doubt that they weren’t.

He was just about to take another sip when the sound of sirens filled the air and the smooth taste was gone, replaced by something …sour. He let go of the cow, pushing him away. The cow quickly got off the bed and to its knees, still spurting its come across the floor, wasting possibly hundreds of dollars worth of ambrosia, staring at the fluid in horror. 

The doors burst open and Chad came running into the room. “What the fuck’s going on?” Jared was already halfway off the bed, still fully naked, his dick still hard as hell.

“Sorry, Jay, but we’ve got intruders at the east walls. The guards are after them with dogs, but…”

Jared stared at the ambrosia being lost, still dripping and dripping as it would be doing for quite a while, even without active milking of its prostate. He threw the cow the receptacle and it stared at it in confusion, before quickly aiming its dick towards it.

Jared pulled up his pants and grabbed a chamber robe before turning around to Chad. “Finish up with the cow, I want that ambrosia stored before it goes bad. Just make sure you put it with the lower quality bottles.” The cow was trembling and Jared quickly turned to him. “It’s not your fault, little one. Anyone would spook with that noise. “ He caressed the cow’s head and placed a soft kiss on its forehead before stalking out of the bedroom. 

Whomever was responsible, was going to regret doing so for the rest of their life. However short it might be.

It didn’t even take all that long to find the first of the intruders. The boy, a black kid about fifteen, sixteen at most had ran up straight towards the fences as soon as he heard the dogs. From the looks of it, he’d just been waiting at the edge, not really daring to go too far into the farm. 

Two of his friends were caught soon after as they came crawling out of the storage shed the moment Jared threatened to have them tagged himself if they didn’t come out of their own free will. 

Not that he’d ever do so, he wasn’t stupid. Tagging a kid without a legal contract was the best way to get your farm shut down. Before you know it, you’d have protesters at your door, and Animal Control checking your other cows for ‘missing kids’. There’s a reason that even the Collection Agencies didn’t just pick up any kid they saw playing around. In between the fines and the bad publicity, you had to be an idiot, or have a cow rounder's lack of respect for authority to risk it. But these two brats were either too stupid or too scared of him to try and make a run for it. His reputation wasn’t that bad, he was sure of it. 

It was the last member of the quartet that gave the most trouble. It wasn’t until they heard a crash coming from the stable that Jared realized where the little bastard had gone off to. 

Jared didn’t bother to wait and let the guards handle it, too pissed off to be reasonable. And it wasn’t just at the little shithead who’d broken his security, but at whomever left the stable doors unlocked. The heavy wooden doors were supposed to be locked shut each night, secured with a system that asked for DNA and finger print identification before opening. The DNA ID was easy, installed in the door handles, it was just there to make sure that only humans could get in and out of the building. One of the cows could try all they want, even if the finger print ID was turned off, but they’d never be able to open the door. The finger print ID on the other hand was stricter by far. It was set only to three people, Jared, Chad and Chris; and turned on by the guards from the guards station as soon as the cows were set up for the night. During the day it was generally left off, making it easier for the stable hands to get in and out as they performed their duties. It should have been impossible to get past, for anyone that didn't have a right to be there. He’d had it installed a few years back when he found one of the guards sampling the livestock during night time.

He’d had the man fired of course, but he knew that wouldn't be enough of a warning to the other guards. So instead he'd sued the man for ambrosia losses, bankrupting the man until he'd been able to have the former guard's son confiscated. The judge, an old friend of Jared’s father had made it clear that the man should be lucky to get of that easy. Ambrosia theft was a serious crime. Not only was there the loss in income, but the damage done to the cows that the guard had been using had taken months to repair. 

Cows were supposed to be able to trust their owners and keepers to look out for them, to keep them safe. And having someone slip in like that could set them, and their milk, off, costing Jared not just time but effort to get them back into their regular routine. 

There was no idea how long the man had been taking advantage of Jared’s property, No idea how much damage he could have done in the long run, possibly talking to the animals, messing up their training, using cows too young for milking in particular. The bastard's ex-wife had been begging the judge for mercy, saying the man didn’t even have primary custody, but since Sheppard had no other property expensive enough to pay for the damages, she’d gone unheard. Seeing said offspring now, among the cows, watching what it had become, tended to be the best deterrent to any of the other guards from trying the same. 

When Jared slammed the doors open, all of the cows were out of their booths, standing up to the intruder, the older ones had pushed the calves behind them. None of them were moving towards the intruder, but it was clear that their mere presence intimidated the little bastard. For a moment Jared worried he had another rebellion on his hands, but then almost simultaneously, all of them knelt down and showed their submission. 

He smiled at them approvingly, hoping to make it clear without saying a word, that they’d done good, protecting his property, but now that he was here, the responsibility fell back on him. He motioned at them to get back to their own booths.

One by one the cows got back up and moved to their sleeping spaces, some of them seemed to try and get a quick glance of what was going on, but even the curious ones knew better than to hesitate after a command. 

It was only then that Jared got a better look of the brat responsible for the chaos. Jared recognized him right away. Josh Ackles. What the fuck did that kid thought he was doing. Fifteen was more than old enough to know the fines for trying to steal a cow. 

Worse than that, what would seeing the boy that used to be his brother, do to Jensen. The young cow was going through a hard enough transitional period as it was, adding in some young idiot who thought he was coming in to be the hero would only make things worse. Jared forced himself to ignore Jensen’s booth, making no sign he recognized any connection between the two. 

There was no connection really, not anymore. Pretending there still was one where the calf could see it would do more harm than good. And when it came down to it, the calf’s development was far more important than being pissed at a bunch of morons with more guts than brains.

The guards dragged the boys with them to Jared’s office and Jared himself stayed behind a minute longer to make the rounds of the stable, checking up on the cows to see if they’d calmed down enough to go back to sleep. There was some tension between them and he could see that Jensen was curled up in his booth and crying. Jared knelt down next to him and gently patted its head and caressed the young calf before moving on. It looked at him through teared up eyes and he made some comforting noises while the animal pushed itself into his touch.

It only worked to make him even angrier when he stormed into his office, seeing the four young hooligans who’d been forced to kneel in front of Jared’s desk. It amused Jared to see them in a proper position like that, just let them worry about whatever the hell he was going to do with them. By now he recognized the lot of them, the four were some of the local trouble makers, that if Jared was concerned would have been sold years ago. 

Sometimes he didn’t understand people, when some of the gentler kinder and more deserving kids got sold, while arrogant little pissheads like these got to grow into adults and normal life. It just didn’t feel right and made him wish the authorities took more of a hand in children’s education to get rid of the ones who didn’t deserve to be human. It made him wish that more parents were like his father, letting themselves be guided by their heads, instead of their hearts.

It was easy to see which of the four was the ringleader. Three of them were practically pissing their pants in fear, hell, from the smell, they might already be too late for that with the scrawny one on the side. But the Ackles boy sat up straight, glaring at him as self righteous as a virgin at a frat party.

“Mister Ackles.” Jared focused his attention on the boy, ignoring the other three. He doubted they’d ever have bothered him if it hadn’t been for Ackles. The boy just continued glaring at him. “I hope you are aware of the trouble you’re in right now.”

Josh snorted at him, the annoying brat seemed to think of himself as a hero, standing up bravely against the big bad. Well Jared knew he couldn’t let that last.

“What will your parents do, when I make them repay the damage you have caused, Mister Ackles. What will they say when you leave them with no choice but to use the money they were paid for your brother to repay your fines.” Josh froze at that. “They won’t have enough to pay their debts, and soon, they’ll have no choice but to sell your sister as well. I’m sure the factories would treat her well, she’s young and healthy, she’ll bare many healthy calves.”

The boy started breathing heavily. “You can’t…” he stuttered out.

“I can’t what?” Jared answered coldly, pretending he didn’t care. “I’m not doing anything, mister Ackles. I’m merely stating what would normally happen, considering your behavior. Is this how you honor your brother’s sacrifice”

“Please, you can’t. Mac she’s…”

“She’s your sister, yes. I understand the pain at the loss of a brother Joshua, but Jensen’s gone. It would be best for you to consider him dead, because as far as the law and the world are concerned, the boy that was Jensen Ackles, no longer exists.”

“Jensen’s not dead!” The boy yelled. “He’s just in the hands of one of you sick perverted fucks! And…”

It was then that Jared realized something, the boy had said “one of you”, he hadn’t accused Jared personally. The stable night lighting was limited, just enough not to stumble into anything, but in the shadows, it was quite possible that Josh hadn’t even seen Jensen, or had seen him without recognizing him. 

Jared hesitated, sure he could use Jensen to threaten Josh, tell the boy what would happen to Jensen if Josh kept causing trouble. But Jared couldn’t see the point of it. To threaten an innocent calf over a human’s transgression was simply put ridiculous. It’d be like threatening to kick your own dog to spite a stranger. Jared would never be able to go through with it.

“I know something about what your brother is going through right now, Josh.” He said, keeping his words general. “I have broken in enough calves of my own to know that at this point in time, the worst thing you could do, would be to try and interfere. “

Josh tried to interrupt, but Jared didn’t give him the chance.

“What did you believe you’d actually achieve by coming here?”

Josh didn’t even bother with an answer so Jared provided it for him. “I guess you wanted revenge, to make the ambrosia industry pay for your loss. And I get that, it always hurts to lose family. But you’re not a kid any more. You should know better than thinking this would make any difference beyond the trouble you’ve caused me personally.”

“You’re monsters.” Was all the coherent reply that Josh managed to muster.

“I want you to see something. “ Jared answered instead.

He pressed a button and a virtual representation of his desk top appeared in front of him. He quickly went through a few links to show the video feed to the stables. 

The night time image showed several of the cows restless in their booths, twisting and turning as they tried to get back to sleep. Chad was in the background, cleaning up the cow that Jared had told him to deal with. 

Jared pressed the 3D keys for the phone connection to his first hand. 

Seconds later, Chad pressed the button for his earphone and answered.   
“Are any of the calves still awake?” Jared asked, but he didn’t wait for an answer. “Never mind, get me one of the youngest, I need to show something to our ‘guests’.” 

Chad knew him well enough that saying that should make it clear just which one he wanted. A minute later Chad returned, the small calf following right behind him, its face turned to the floor. It knelt on order and even in the twilight, Jared could see the still healing marks the whip had left behind on its back.


	5. Chapter 5

There were about five spots hanging at the ceiling right over their row. Ten more were spread across the rest of the stable. All of them were dimmed. There were cables hanging darkly from the ceiling along with a whole lot of tubes and wires. Wires came from the booths, alongside steel poles that stuck out, supplying each booth with electricity and tubes for the milking. All nicely colored in clean blue and orange and white. There was nearly no wood in the stables, except for the wooden reams that held up the upper ceiling. It was all modern, clean, state of the art.

Jensen could see the shadows on the big metal door, even from his booth and he imagined them taking the shapes of big monstrous claws that would grab hold of anyone that dared to come anywhere near them. As he pulled in his leg to curl up and be warmer, the shackle around his feet rang into the silence. He flinched as the shadows started moving and it took him a second to realize that it was the door that was moving. 

His body moved to its knees, before he could even make a choice to do so. “Always kneel when you see me.” He could hear Jared’s voice whisper it along his ears, the mental image Jensen had of him showed him playing with his whip, looking like a giant, his shadow towering over them all.

It was only then that he dared to look at the others and saw many of them kneeling up as well. It was obvious he hadn’t been the only one who’d had trouble sleeping. It was only as he dared to look back at the door that he realized the form shown of in the light of the moon was far too small to be their owner’s. 

Tension and grunts from the others filled the room as the figure took a step further, his face reflecting some of the emergency lighting. Not Jared, not even Chris or Chad.

Josh!

The last time Jensen had seen his brother, Josh had been yelling at their parents, before locking himself in his room. Jensen could still hear his brother’s last words.“Do this, and I’m never talking to you again!” Josh had wanted him and Mac to stay in his room with him, to stay in his sight. But Jensen had been too curious, he'd wanted to know what was going on. Not that Josh could have done anything, the decision was already made. It hit Jensen now that Josh had known and he’d tried to stop their parents. It made him feel ashamed at ever being angry with Josh, at ever wanting it to be his big brother who had to go through this instead of him. Seeing him standing here, where he didn’t belong, Jensen was almost glad that it had been him who’d been the one to be sold. Josh was the smart one, the strong one. He could go into college and help people. Jensen was stupid, he didn’t know all of the words yet and he had trouble with math, while his brother knew ‘everything’.

Josh was sneaking in, obviously unsure of what he was supposed to be doing now. His eyes still adjusting to the night time gloom of the stable. Jensen wanted to run up at him and fall in his brother’s arms. Begging him to take him with him, back home, back to his room and his bear and…Jensen wanted to tell him to run and get away before Jared came in and found him here.

But as he started to get up; his still healing back and buttocks sent a wave of pain through his body, reminding him, be good, be a good boy, a good calf or else… It was a fight in his head between the little boy who wanted his brother and the calf who didn't want to be punished, who didn't want to be hurt. The calf won, just barely.

Jensen stared at his brother’s shadows, following Josh as he moved from the food stand, watched him as stopped to glare at the latrines, and flinched as Josh kicked against the glass cupboard holding the whips and other stuff that really really hurt. Don't break it, Jensen wanted to shout, don't break it, or Jared will be angry.

Jensen could hear more of his stable mates getting up in their booths, their feet ruffling against the plastic, as their bodies got up from the floor. Some of them even moved out of their booths, standing in the clearing between the booths and glaring at Josh. Jensen’s fingers unwantedly reached for his bit, wanting to pull it out, but unable to move it more than a few inches. His tongue paralyzed from the force it put on it to keep it down to keep him unable from uttering anything more than growls and grunts.

It was only as the others started moving that Jensen managed to overcome his fear and got out of his booth as well. Staring up at the backs of the boys, the cows, older than himself. He could almost feel the tension, all of it aimed at Josh. Fear, anger, combing together as they got closer and closer to Josh. Adults and teenagers combined, Jensen tried to slip in between them, but his chain slipped tight and he was unable to pass. The sound of the chain reminding the others he was there. 

None of them would let him pass, him or any of the younger ones, putting themselves up as a shield, as if they were scared Josh was going to hurt them. 

“Don’t be idiots,” Jensen wanted to say. “It’s Josh, he’s an ass, sure, and he’ll mess up your toys, or give you a wedgie, but we’re not wearing clothes so he can’t do that anyway, but he won’t hurt us, not Josh.“

But the others didn’t know Josh. They just knew he didn't belong here.

And then the siren screeched through the air and Josh was still staring at them. His face looked worse than that time when Jensen caught him staring at that movie with lots of blood and gore in it, that mom and dad had told him not to rent, and Josh had thrown a pillow at Jensen, when he ran to tell mom.

Jensen could only see the first cows’ backs, but he could hear their teeth gnashing against their bits. He could feel the quiet tension rippling in between them, Josh and the rest of the room. And Josh’ looked disgusted.

It just made Jensen want to hide, how could he ever expect his brother to save him, when Josh would be sick just looking at him. What else could Jensen expect? He wasn’t human no more, just some thing, they all were. No wonder Josh could barely stand to look at them. 

Josh was saying something, “Oh my God” repeated over and over. “Please, I just want to help. Tell me how I can help.”

But no one was listening to him. And when he doors opened again and Josh backed off, it was to the sight of Jared and several of the guards.

Jensen instantly fell to his knees and saw his fellow cows do the exact same thing. He was desperate not to look up, not to pretend he was human. Keeping down, bowing his head to the floor, anything to keep their master from being angry at them for disobeying. They weren’t allowed to get up during the night, and now they had.

Josh was taken away, and Master looked at all of them, comforting them. Jensen cried when he came close and Jared’s touch was gentle. He didn’t talk to them, didn’t expect them to give answers they couldn’t give. 

“Please, don’t hurt Josh.” He wanted to beg. Even if Josh didn’t want nothing to do with him, even if Josh hadn’t even recognized him. Josh was still his brother and Jensen wanted him to be safe, to look after Mac. But even if he had been able to speak, Jared wouldn’t ever want to hear anything a cow had to say. Words could only make things worse for them, and Jared was kind enough not to make them get into more trouble than he had to. 

Jensen tried to get back to sleep, like the others, but it was hard to do, with no idea of what kind of trouble Josh could be in. The boy that had been taken by Jared earlier was brought in by Chad, Chad soaped him up and cleaned him out and Jensen watched as the boy got sent back to his booth. 

Chad reached out for something at his ear and stopped before looking up at Jensen. Jensen desperately but silently begged for him to move on, but it was too late. Chad was already heading his way. When he ordered Jensen to come forward, Jensen obeyed, kneeling on the floor in front of his booth, eyes facing the floor. 

“Down, production position.” Chad said and Jensen followed orders, shaking, scared of whatever was coming. Then Chad made him sit up, and opened his pants, Jensen stared at him, unable to understand what was happening, what was expected of him. 

“It’s alright boy, it’s just a simple thing, I just need you to put your hands on my dick.” Jensen stared at the man, at the body part in question, seeing it hang out of the man’s pants. Jensen was shaking. “Just show our guests just how willing you are to follow orders, show Jared, because he’s watching us right this second.”

Jensen’s mouth fell as open as it could get in shock, staring at Chad, wondering how Jared could see them. But feeling it was the truth. So he followed orders, stretched up so he could reach Chad's dick, and put his hand where it was supposed to go. Or at least he thought he did, Chad corrected him right after. It just made Jensen feel sick, it wasn’t like touching a hand or a leg, it was softer in a way. Chad waited a bit, letting him feel the flesh under his fingers before he gave his next order.

“Your other hand too.” 

Jensen’s hands looked even smaller than ever, even before Chad ordered him to stroke it, to touch the hairy flesh of his balls, before the thing grew harder and bigger.  
“There there boy.” Chad reached for the bit on Jensen’s face, unlocking the leather before removing it from Jensen's mouth, leaving the tangles hanging by the side of his cheek. Jensen took a deep breath as the thing was gone for the first time since he’d arrived, licking his lips. “Now get up on your feet, put your lips over your teeth and lick at the tip of my dick."   
Chad said. Jensen stared at him, not understanding, but terrified. “Now boy, my dick isn’t going to suck itself.”

Jensen swallowed away his last attempts to struggle and did as he was told Chad grabbed hold of his head, controlling Jensen’s movements, keeping him from falling. He pushed his dick slightly further into Jensen’s mouth, touching Jensen's throat, but only so far, filling his mouth and when he came its taste felt sour on Jensen’s tongue. If this was what ambrosia tasted like, then Jensen couldn’t understand why people would want to drink it. But then Chad was human, he wasn’t meant to be milked like Jensen and the other cows were. 

Jensen almost fell back as Chad let go of him, Jensen fall back to his knees, his buttocks falling on the soles of his feet as he tried to catch his breath, making him flinch in pain. Chad smiled at something above them and Jensen tried to look the same way. His eyes were tearing up again, and he struggled to keep his eyes wide open, his face covered in the slick slimy stuff.

He wanted to say “please”, he wanted to say “no more”. But instead he just stared at Chad as the man cleaned himself up with one of the wipes usually left around to clean the cows after their shift, before he put his dick back in his pants.

Jensen’s mouth felt sticky, it hurt, his lips were bruised and he just wanted to go away and never return, hoping Josh hadn’t seen this. But Chad said… If his brother saw that, he’d know, he’d understand, that Jensen wasn’t human. Because no human would just sit here, waiting. Humans were better than that and Jensen… wasn’t. 

“Please Josh, don’t look at me.” He wanted to say, but the words never left his mouth. Instead Jensen let Chad clean his face with another of the wipes, and remained quiet as the foreman put the bit back in place. Chad actually petted his head, stroking over his neck before telling him to stay. Jensen then waited as the man put a small bowl of food in front of him and he ate when told to do so. 

“Just a small bit, to get rid of the taste.” Chad said, Jensen had no idea how it was supposed to help, but he ate from his food and he drank from his bottle like a good little cow, and then he went to sleep like a good calf and waited, hoping to never see his brother again.

 

****

 

It was odd to see the way all four boys reacted to the show. Shock, disgust, as if they were watching something so horrible they could barely stand to watch. 

Josh was screaming at Jared, at the guards, to stop it, to stop hurting the little boy even before Chad released the animal from his control. Telling them they couldn't do this, acting as if the calf was a child, as if this very thing should mean something. Not that Jared thought that there shouldn't be some thought of what should and should not be allowed to be done to calves of that age, but something as simple as display and a blowjob was hardly on the list where he was concerned.

And that was before the calf lifted its head and before it showed its face to the camera. 

Josh kept yelling obscenities at them both, begging him to stop hurting a child. And Jared looked at the images and tried to look at the scene through the eyes of a stranger and he still couldn't see it. But even that reaction was nothing compared to the one they got when Josh saw Jensen’s face. The teenager froze, staring up at the screen, at the familiar small face, at the little body and he started crying. 

The calf was obedient, which was really all that Jared had wanted to show. And Chad was fully in control of himself, not forcing himself into the calf’s throat like a lot of men would have done. But then that was why Chad was his first hand, the man was actually good at his job. He understood the difference between teaching a lesson and giving a punishment. Chad was the kind of guy, who could give a beating that hurt for hours without leaving a single lasting bruise. It's what made even his attitude worth working with.

And this was never about punishing Jensen, just about making it clear how futile this ‘attack’ had been and how little this cow had in common with the boy Josh used to know as his brother. To see the calf sucking on Chad's cock and display just how much control the man had over himself to keep it to just that, to just how much a calf could take. It was supposed to be comforting.

Jared remembered a time when he himself had needed to be taught that lesson. To see his own brother, the one he’d been closest to, resigned to the stables once their father found his flaw. 

Bertie hadn't been the first of his brothers to be flawed, nor was he the last, but he'd been Bertie, the one who'd helped Jared settle into the big mansion and who'd soothed his tears away when Jared cried about his birth parents death or the car crash that had taken them away from him. It didn't matter that he didn't remember the crash, just flashes of a life, the pain of losing them had still hurt.

He’d seen Bertie as perfect, Bertie had been four years older than Jared, and adopted a few years earlier. Both did good in sports, and Bertie had been good at soccer, better than Jared was. But in class Bertie had been struggling from the very first day since he’d joined the household. He worked so hard, fighting to keep at the same level that the rest of his class did and only barely succeeding. Then the teachers tested him and found out he had dyslexia, a learning disorder. 

Their father was a kind and caring man, but he had certain expectations in regards to the boys he adopted to be his heirs. They all stood there in line, waiting for their father's judgement, when he told them that Bertie had failed, several of them chuckled, glaring at the boy who'd started crying. Bertie never begged, he had more dignity than that. Jared remembered being too stunned to do anything, while their father ordered Bertie to remove his clothes, no need to damage them when the others could still use them. Bertie had started crying, touching Jared's hand one last time, before the foreman put the bit on his face and led him off to the stables. 

Jared hadn’t wanted to go there anymore afterwards. Not to help feed the animals, or clean them. He hadn’t wanted to see Bertie because it hurt. He’d been so angry with their father over doing this to their brother and knowing the same could happen to him if he didn’t pass their father’s every test. Bertie, he just... he seemed almost relieved.

One day, their father was done with Jared’s attitude and ordered him to sit here in this exact same office and to watch the foreman use Bertie, the way Chad was doing to Jensen. To look at the cow and understand, Bertie was gone. Bertie had failed. But Jared hadn’t. And if he wanted to keep passing his father’s tests then he needed to understand that those of his brothers who ended up in the stables did so, not because of their father’s fault, but because they were weak, because they were failures and because they weren’t good enough. At least as cows they still had some use and weren't a total waste of their father's investment in them.

Jared had stopped crying after that day, seeing Bertie looking up at him, after, watching him look away from Dad. No, relief came close, but it was more than that, as if the weight of the world had fallen of his brother's back, as if it was all done and over with and he wouldn't have to struggle anymore. 

Father had sold Bertie two weeks later, once he was convinced that Jared understood the lesson. Jared had never forgotten. He prayed that Josh could one day understand that same thing. Because something about that boy, annoying as he was to Jared, must have been pleasing to his parents; enough so, to let him grow up to this point. 

“Please. Please, just stop hurting him.” Josh was begging him. “Why are you doing this? He didn’t do anything." the boy's eyes stood wide open. "It was my fault, why are you hurting him over me?”

Jared got up from behind his desk and rose up to the four boys. Taking one last look at the screen. Even standing up, Jensen barely passed the level of Chad’s waist. The calf seemed so small in comparison, its bald head reflected even the little light. 

The camera followed the scene as Chad finished himself off on Jensen's face and cleaned both himself and the cow, before he allowed the animal to feed on some gruel. One of Josh’s friends had to hold Ackles back at that point. Grabbing his arms and keeping him in place before he attacked Jared.

Jared could see the strain on the second boy's face as he restrained Josh and pulled him back down. He waited for both of them to settle down before he continued. “I’m not hurting anyone, Josh. I’m just showing you the truth."

He motioned at the screen and rewound the scene till they got to the moment where Chad was coming in the animal's mouth. "That calf there, it knows its place, it’s learning to adapt to it. It's not easy, it's still stuck on memories of what it used to be, but day by day it’s accepting what it is and what its purpose in life is." Jared let the camera focus, not on Chad, but on Jensen's tear-filled eyes. "And it's that what's painful. Unlike you, it knows that neither me, nor Chad, nor Chris, nor anyone else I’d allow near my animals, would ever harm them."Ackles snorted, but Jared ignored him. "But even knowing that, even understanding that, part of it fights its training, because it believes it has to, because that's what it was thought was normal. And that's what I'm doing here, helping my calves to leave behind their illusions of humanity, allowing them to grow into the best cows they can be, so they can learn to be happy with the life they do have.“

Josh's mouth fell open in a shock, and for a moment, just a short one, Jared thought he'd understood, but then Josh showed what a child he still was.  
“Are you insane? That bastard just raped Jensen!” The words were hoarse, filled with pain, but they weren't shouted or screamed, held fully in control and reason..

Jared had to close his eyes and find the strength not to hit the little idiot for just not getting it.

“No Joshua," he answered in the calmest voice he could manage, hating that he had to repeat the point. "Chad was solely training a calf. Letting their trainers take full control of them and trusting them to not go beyond what they can take, is a large part of what a calf needs to learn at this point.“ He prayed that this time they would sink in. But by now he knew better than to expect this set of brats to get it.

“Jensen’s not a calf!” Josh jumped to his feet again, by now not even his friend could hold him back from facing Jared who was now looming over him, the size disparity so clear between them.

“Jensen wasn’t a calf," Jared said, letting every word sink into the boy's head before continuing, "but that isn’t Jensen, not anymore. It might be a memory of Jensen, it resembles him in looks, in body. But Jensen was human and that calf there, it isn’t human, not anymore.”

“Josh don’t.” the black boy begged his friend to stop, it was the Moore’s boy. Jared remembered him from talking to the boy’s parents at the last neighborhood picnic. He didn’t need to say anything more, Josh was smart enough to get the point on his own. 

“You were wrong.” Josh said. “Jensen didn’t sacrifice himself for me. It was our parents who sacrificed him, who thought they could give up one of us to help us all. And they were wrong.” 

He stood up, making Jared see a strength in the boy that might one day lead him to become someone. And for a moment, Jared almost took him serious, just a moment and then the boy started talking again.

”When they sold my brother," Josh continued,"they sold out all of us and as far as I’m concerned, they’re dead to me. You can punish me, you can do whatever the hell you want, it’s not like anyone’s going to stop you. But one day, I am going to make you pay for this, for all of it. I promise you that.”

Jared chuckled at the bravado and pinched the boy’s cheek. “I’m sure you will.” Then he turned away from the kids and cleared away the images of the training session. “Stay off my farm Ackles. If I ever see you here again, if I catch the sight of your face, or your friends’ faces. I’m calling the sheriff and I’ll be there for every step of your sister’s auction. Is that clear?”

Josh stood silent for a moment. His reflection in the screen curled his hands into fists. If he were breathing any more heavily, Jared would be expecting to see steam coming out of his nose.

“You’ve got my brother.” Josh spat out, finally, still defiant. “You took my little brother”, he hissed, ”and you turned him into an animal and I will make you pay for it.”

“I already did.”


	6. Chapter 6

The following week, Jensen wasn’t sure what to think. He ate out of his bowl as he was supposed to, went outside to play with the others when they were allowed to do so, and obediently followed Jared into the shed when called in. Jared didn’t even mention Josh, what had happened to him, or how he’d gotten in in the first place. But from the way he yelled at one of the guards before firing him, Jensen could imagine that Jared hadn’t been happy to see him come. 

Jensen just wished the farmer wouldn’t stare at him so much. More and more he wished to be just one of the cows, so he wouldn’t be noticeable in any way. Being invisible meant being safe, it meant that people wouldn’t punish you, because they didn’t notice you did anything worth being punished over. Having Jared’s eyes on him, knowing that at any time Jared could be watching them filled Jensen with fear. It didn’t help that at the same time his body seemed to be rebelling against his every thought to just stay out of sight and do as told. And he would, if it weren’t for the scents, it’s not like he could smell people like those wolf guys from those old stories, but everything weighed heavier on his nose. Especially the people, the people and the cows. The cows who kept staring at him, or worse, the way some of them lifted their heads as if picking up on something in the air and stopping when they noticed him.

Jensen’s stomach hurt, like all the time now. And he kept burping, even when he was supposed to quietly kneel and really really didn’t want Jared to pay any kind of attention to him. Half the day he felt hot and cold at the same time, and no matter how much he tried to drink, his mouth remained starshed. It didn't stop there, It hurt just to pee and there was this constant itch, right between his legs, that just kept creeping up on him, and he couldn’t scratch it, because of … when Jared touched him in his hole it was worse than that time he’d broken his leg when he was six and the doctor had to set it back in place to save it. Worse even than when Jared had to punish because he’d been bad.

Today Jared had made him lie on his back and open his legs, made him raise his butt, and ordered him to stay still while Jared’s fingers touched Jensen in the spot that hurt and Jensen couldn’t help it as he jumped up a foot screaming even through the bit. It seemed like Jared found something that pleased him, because afterwards he smiled at Jensen and he kept patting Jensen’s belly, no matter how much it hurt. Jensen wished he could see it as his punishment for screaming, but he didn’t think Jared would be smiling like that if it were. Jared never acted pleased when he had to 'discipline' them, just dissapointed.

Of course then Jared put a belt around Jensen’s waist and cuffed Jensen’s hands to the back of the belt, telling him it was necessary so he wouldn’t touch himself. Jensen wanted to tell him he wasn’t that stupid, but then the itch started up again and the sensation of it was almost maddening enough to make him want to scratch it away, pain or no pain. And he licked Jared’s fingers in thanks for the belt.

By the time the veterinarian got there, Jensen had rolled over to his stomach, shaking, cringing away from every touch. Jared picked him up from the floor and took him to the shed. Jensen held on to their owner for protection. “Please make it stop!” He wanted to say, even if he couldn’t.” Even as the bit stuck behind his teeth.

The vet looked him over, and tutted and oohd at him as if he were a baby. It was better than being ignored while he was in the room, but not by much. 

She used some kind of dropper to deliver the fluid directly to the spot that hurt the most. It was like a soothing balm and Jensen sighed in relief. It didn’t remove all of the pain, but the worst of it was gone, even as she got ready to clean him up on the inside. Chad had done so before, sticking some kind of tube inside of him and filling him up with water during their weekly grand wash. But the stuff she put inside of him felt different, more soothing, almost taking away all feeling down under. He stared down at his feet, wiggling them, even as he could barely feel his thighs.

And then after he was allowed to release all of the fluid, closing his eyes, trying not to look at them, she put something inside of him and he lay there, wondering what it was the thing showed her on the screen she was holding. After a few minutes she petted his shoulder and soothed him, placing a sugar cube past his bit, before taking a blood sample from his arm. Giving him another sugarcube afterwards. Jensen couldn’t help suck at the sweet taste, lingering on it as she moved up to Jared, leaving him on the table.

“Well?” Jensen heard Jared ask. But they were too far and she was speaking too quietly for him to hear her answer. He was starting to worry at the way that Jared was eying him as if the man’s birthday had come early this year. And Jensen was ruining it by having it hurt so much. It made Jensen terrified there was something wrong with him that would make his owner angry. 

But then Jared just put a new ring in his ear and added something to it, caressing Jensen’s neck and head as he did so. His hands didn’t stay there, moving down Jensen’s body, touching Jensen's butt before moving on to Jensen’s bellybutton. He sounded almost proud, as if something Jensen had done had pleased him. Jensen wished he knew what it was.

When they got back to the stable, Jensen was allowed a blanket to take with him to his booth. It was old and harsh, but it was warm and comforting as he lay down. When Chad saw him, he whistled in appreciation.

“An omega? Finally! What’s it been, five years since the last one died?”

“Six.” Jared corrected the other man, before tucking Jensen under.

The two men left, still talking and Jensen lay there, forcing himself to keep breathing normally, instead of the quick hurried breaths that kept him shivering. 

No no, he wasn't an omega, he couldn't be. He was a boy, a boy, not...not a girl cow. That’s what the teacher had called it when they talked about it in class. Omegas and alphas and betas. Omegas had babies, so they were like girls, only he wasn’t a girl. And…

His mind kept storming though it, refusing to let it go, even for a second.

He heard them coming, before he saw them. The other cows, not all of them, just the alphas. He could hear them sniffing around his booth and stared up at the oldest amongst them who came into his booth first. The older cow, he had to be thirty, sat down next to him, and Jensen pulled the blanket around him, hiding himself from the man’s eyes. But the man’s, the alpha’s hand didn’t just reach out to grab him, he waited, as if asking Jensen for permission, until Jensen nodded and he touched out to the new mark around Jensen’s ear. Jensen was hugging his legs by that point, feeling like his body was betraying him. The alpha pulled him into a hug, blanket still covering Jensen, pulling it closer around Jensen’s body.

None of the others came closer and Jensen finally managed to make himself lie down again, while the strange cow sat with him and held him. Both of them were naked, except for the blanket that the alpha made sure to keep between them. But where Jared’s touches always lingered longer than felt right, the cow holding him was like his mom rocking him to sleep. 

And when Jared came in and the cows had to go to their booths to be milked, Jensen was constantly surrounded by the other calves. As if they were protecting him. With the looks thrown by the older ones warning them to be careful with him. Jensen hated it, he wasn’t a girl, didn’t want to be a girl. He didn’t even look like a girl, so there had to be some kind of mistake. He just wished he knew how to tell Jared he was wrong. 

Jensen made an effort of ignoring the pain between his legs when Chris came to take them out to play in the field. Hiding in the group, running after the ball, throwing himself in the mud, showing he wasn’t soft, wasn’t a girl. But then he had to stop because the fever came back and Chad had to put him under the spray to help him cool off before putting him back in his booth while the others got to keep playing outside. He had to hear Chad yelling at Chris for letting him go outside in the first place, Jensen was ‘delicate’, they had to be ‘careful’ with him and throughout it all, if Jensen hadn’t been suffering so much, he’d have wanted to kick Chad’s legs over it.

So he was stuck in his booth, in between bouts of sleeping and waking up in pain. His dreams filled with people yelling at him, with an image of Jared tying pink ribbons around his head. Telling him he was going to be such a pretty girl. And Josh looking at it all from a distance, looking away in shame.

The alphas kept bringing him stuff, grapes and radishes and cherry tomatoes. The betas snorted at it, Dean saw one of them throw kissy faces at two of the alphas who kept settling around Jensen, and had to be growled away by the older alphas. 

Jensen could smell them. Not in a smelly, stinking way, but smell them, smell something about them that set them apart. The betas didn’t smell human, but they didn’t smell right either. Not like the alphas did. They didn’t fit. 

But it was the humans that were worst, they positively stank. And it didn’t get better with time. Jensen could smell their soap, their aftershaves and all the things people used to clean themselves. But all around them was this pungent stench of ‘wrong’, of ‘not my kind’. 

And then there was Jared. Jensen didn’t know what it was with him. He was human, he didn’t smell like a cow, but it was like there was so much ambrosia in him that it overcame the stench of his humanity. It twisted something inside of Jensen whenever Jared touched him, made him sniff the man, made him lie there under his owner touch. Chad and Chris weren’t as bad as the guards either, but they still smelled wrong.

Jensen barely managed to stay put as the vet came back to check up on him. She was wearing some kind of perfume, but it only made things worse. Jared being there helped, made him focus on something other than wanting to pinch his nose to keep the scent out, and that sickened him even more. Especially when Jared suddenly put something really big up his butt that hurt like H double hockey sticks. He wanted to ask why, but only got an answer when Chris asked Chad about it. 

“Well you know how omegas change so they can give birth, right? Well rumor has it, that when an Omega is developing you have to make it clear to the body that the anal canal has to stay open while it’s building this new structure to let a baby get passed later on. So they make these things, like special butt plugs, that keep the anal passage from growing shut while it’s doing that.” And then they moved on and Jensen couldn’t hear them anymore until Chad broke out laughing at something Chris must have said.  
Jensen started hyperventilating, his heart beating in his chest. He wanted to grab something anything and beg God to make it stop. And then the large alpha came back, the one Jared called Thumper, and gently held him, telling him without words not to worry, snorting at the two men. 

But what if Chad was right? What if he wouldn’t be able to go to the toilet anymore? How did girls even do that? What if his dick fell off and he had to wear bras like the girls in Josh’s class. What if…  
He was already falling asleep when Jared came back and the thing in his butt slowly faded away.

 

******

 

 

When the car stopped at the park, Jared let Chad carry most of the stuff up to the picnic lot, while he headed straight up to the Grills. He’d offered to help with the meat during the last neighborhood meeting and he was looking forward to trying out a new spice mix he’d read up on.

Chris and his wife were already there and Chris left his pregnant wife for a moment to come and give Chad a hand. The sun was high in the sky, and there wasn't a sign of a cloud. Just your typical Texas summer. 

Jared had always liked the sense of community, not just in the town, but in the street and the immediate area. There were three active farms in the street alone, but Jared was the only ambrosia farmer out of them. He smiled back as one of the women flirted with him, showing off her hips and belly button with her shirt tied up around hr waist and low riding daisy dukes. But Jared wasn’t the type to go for a married woman. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted a woman to begin with. 

The family sitting at the picnic table in front of him were playing a board game to keep the kids busy. The youngest, about six or seven was running around blowing bubbles. It made Jared wonder if he should get a bubble blower for the farm, give the calves something to run after. The parents on the table seemed desperate to just ignore him, especially once they noticed he was looking at them. But the two kids still at the table just kept looking his way and then quickly pretending they weren’t. Jared could hear their mother berate them on it a bit later. 

The father came up to talk to him, talking up to him. A lot of people liked to pretend they were his best friend, hoping he’d give them a deal on ambrosia. Jared didn't mind going along with it, and he wasn't above supporting a good Cause.

Chad was talking to some chick at the salad bar and Jared laid out the steaks. Nice juicy sirloins that could make anyone's mouth water at the sight of them once they'd be grilled.

Jared was pulled out of his musing by an old cracked voice. “Jared, can I talk to you about something?” 

Jared turned around: “Of course, Reverend.” He stood still waiting. Reverend Thomas was a regular guest as these neighborhood-to-do’s, as his expanded belly would attest to. 

“I wanted to thank you personally for not filing charges against those boys last week ago. I know you understand how hard it would have made things for their families if you had.”

Jared nodded, knowing this wasn’t really what the rev had called him on about. “Roger came to talk to me earlier. He said that Josh told him you … bought Jensen.” And still waiting to see what was going on. 

“Yes.” Jared turned over the first of the steaks.

“Jared, I know it’s your full right to buy any cow you want, but….” Jared now turned his full attention to the man. “but don’t you find this… a little inappropriate.”

“This, Reverend?” 

“To keep the boy so close to his parents, to make them…”

“I don’t make the Ackles do anything, Reverend Thomas. All I did was buy a cow that may have once belonged to them. It was their decision to sell, and my good fortune to buy.” Jared looked over the picnic site and could see the Ackles sitting in the back, as far away from him as possible. Their seven year old daughter was running around with a few other girls her age, even as she kept eying her brother as if making sure he wasn't gone.

“But wouldn’t it be better if you just… sold him to someone else, to a farm somewhat further away.”

Jared looked at him insulted. “Reverend, I don’t see what the problem is. The Ackles sold their son, they should have realized that that meant that someone was going to buy the cow he became. This isn’t the first time that I make a local purchase. I prefer to support the local businesses, and that includes the local Agency. I don’t ask people to come look at my cows, I don’t even take my cows out of my farm. What difference does it make where this cow is, or who owns it, if they can’t handle that, then they shouldn’t have sold the boy in the first place."

The reverend still stood there, as if he were about to say more, when Jared had to return his attention to the meat. He couldn’t just ruin his work. Besides, he didn’t want to fight with the reverend, the man was a decent enough sort, and he probably felt he had to at least pretend to the Ackles that he’d made an effort. 

Roger Ackles looked like he was about to approach Jared a few times, but each time he took a step back. It was annoying, more than anything. And when Ackles wife finally managed to push him Jared’s way, all that got out was a quick apology about Josh and a thank you for letting the boys go without demanding a fine.

Jared could see that there’s more the man wants to ask, but that he’s too scared to do so. Jared doesn’t bother to drag it out, but it leaves him in a bad mood for the rest of the evening and night. Not even the cow he takes up for that night can lighten up his mood. It’s one of the older ones and it tries, God does it try, but in the end he lets it go after a short milking, puts his head down to sleep, with the sound of the cow’s breathing from the mat besides his bed right next to him.

For a moment he considers it, It’s not like one cow is that important. Even if it’s Jensen, whom he’d wanted since he first saw the boy step out of the kiddies pool when he was five. Even if the kid’s shy and gentle nature called to him. Not for sex, he wasn't interested in sex with human children, but because those eyes had looked at him in full trust like any of his favorite cows, and he’d wanted more of it. Almost regretting it that evening that he couldn’t just take him and be his owner that very day. It was a silly daydream that passed all too soon. But then, seeing that boy, that calf at the Agency, seeing his hopes, his patience rewarded and realizing he would have him, for the rest of the boy’s, the cow’s life. And it hadn't even been his own doing. 

Sure he could sell Jensen, it was just a cow, just an animal. He could sell it and get another one and it wouldn’t make a difference. Jensen could go to one of the thousands of farms in the state alone. Jared could even make sure to send the poor animal to another ethical farmer, get him a kind and caring owner who wouldn't milk him dry within years and give him some time to relax in between production. There were over six thousand of them, the last time Jared checked. Jensen wasn't that special, one of over four hundred thousand Ambrosia Cows in Texas alone. 

Just one cow, not enough reason to piss of his neighbors over. It was probably his stubbornness of being called out on just doing his job that was keeping him from giving in, yet... the idea of anyone telling him what was 'appropriate' or not, it angered him. 

He’d almost forgotten his work with the calves the next morning, too angry and when he saw Jensen come into the shed, he was almost too angry to pay attention. He just wants to get it over with, and seeing the cow flinch at his touch worse than ever, he just wants to hit him, tell him how lucky he is. But the only thing stopping the cow’s screams is the bit in between his lips. 

It’s then that Jared saw it, and it hit him like a hammer, making him wonder why he hadn’t spotted it before. From one moment to another he goes from being angry to being hopeful. He keeps the calf in the shed and calls the vet. and forgets about the others. By the time the vet’s there, the poor calf is running a full fever and getting worse by the second. 

But it’s there and he can’t help but smile as she agrees with him. A breeder, an Omega breeder. The thing he’d been waiting for for years, hoping for since his hope for once again extending the Palacki farm to its previous glory was gone when their last Omega died in it's third month of pregnancy. 

But this time they’d be more careful. It had to be a sign, him seeing the cow when he was still a boy, spotting it then, the way it's eyes called out to him to make it his own. A sign from God, Destiny telling him that Jensen was meant to be his, to restore the farm to what it had been in his father’s day. He wouldn’t force Jensen to have more than one calf a year, wouldn’t exhaust the thing’s body with endless pregnancies, one after the other until it died before it reached twenty, like was all too common. 

He’d leave a few months in between birth and a new breeding, pick carefully amongst the alphas he ended up using. To not just check for bloodlins but to see that he used the young ones at first, not force an adult alpha on the young Omega until his body could handle it. 

Jensen would last and become the Mother, the Omega of his next generation.   
Jared would have to build a new nursery of course. He’d started working on it when he had his last Omega, but when the thing died, he’d let it lie abandoned, too gutted at seeing his hopes die once again. But he’d have years. He’d make sure not to let himself get rushed, no matter how much he wanted this, wait till the cow was twelve at least, before he even looked at breeding it. Make sure it was strong enough, properly prepare it, coddle it even and keep the vet on speed dial. 

But he was just so proud when he could put the mark for omega on the cow’s ear. He kept staring at the cows even after the night was done and the cow of the night was spent, exhausted, unable to walk and spread out on his mat. Opening the cameras and looking at them in the night, watching the alpha holding the calf. His little Omega. His hope. Watching the others in the morning, so careful, so watchful, so protective. He was just so proud of all of them. They knew how important the omega calf would be to the stable, protecting his investment.

And when he went to town that week and drove past the Ackles place, and he saw Josh glaring at him from his work in the yard, Jared faced the boy with his head raised high. 

He had an Omega and there’s no way he was ever getting rid of it.


	7. Chapter 7

Jensen had managed to endure yet another vet visit, the second one this week. It's not that she was bad to him. She was always so gentle, kinder almost than his old family doctor. And that guy used to hand out lollipops after every visit. But still Jensen couldn’t help the urge to pull back from her. She sprayed some kind of fumes on herself before she came in, but it never quite stopped her stench from overpowering him in its humanity. 

Luckily Jared was usually there when she was and Jensen held on to his familiar presence to stay obedient. Jensen needed to do what they said, it was the only way to keep Jared from getting angry. And every morning Jared would put that thing up his butt that would seemingly fade away in a matter of hours. Jared called it a suppossi… something, Jensen couldn’t quite understand it. Jared just said that it would feed his bloodvessels and make him stronger. But stronger for what?

He noticed that two of the other calves were getting special attention as well, only they ended up getting the symbol of alpha, instead of the omega thingy that Jensen got. 

Jensen wished he got one like them, it made Jared happy, but at least their owner wouldn’t pay too much attention to Jensen, like he did now. All kinds of attention, except for the one kind he'd want, some kind of explanation. 

He wished he'd spent more attention in class when the teacher gave a quick run down about Ambrosia cows and their gender. But she'd only done so because Sandy, a kid from their class, had asked about it after her cousin started to work at an Ambrosia farm upstate. The rest of the class had just enjoyed the diversion of the teacher and started looking over their texts one last time before the teacher gave her usual pop quiz. 

Jensen had planted himself under the tree with one of the alpha calves and tried not to look at the flowers. Even if he 'had' noticed they were white with a green stem, and he hadn't been able to miss that the petals spread wide when he blew on them. He still wasn’t a girl and he still didn’t want to be one. The grass tickled his bottom.

There was a man standing next to Jared, a stranger. The guy was tall, not as tall as Jared, but still large and masive. He had shortcut black hair and a black beard. The stranger looked a bit like a grizzly bear and Jensen couldn’t help the idea that they were both staring at him. Jared was laughing about something, but Jensen didn't fully trust the way Jared kept throwing looks at the stranger, as if asking for the other man's approval, as if Jared were showing off the place and from the looks of it, Jensen himself.

Jensen got up from his place under the tree and headed up to the water fountain. It stood in the middle of the sand filled paddock and was made out of some kind of metal that never seemed to rust, no matter how much rain fell on top of it. Jensen licking up some fluid before looking back up and realizing that Jared and the stranger were standing right behind him. Jensen immediately moved to his knees.

The man that was with Jared stopped cold mere inches away from Jensen, then he bent down and grabbed hold of Jensen’s bit, forcing Jensen to face up to him. Jensen wasn't quite sure if he managed to master humility and respectful while forced to look at the stranger's face. But at least he didn't entirely embarrass Jared by backing off and running away.

“My oh my, that’s one magnificent animal, I don't think I've ever seen a cow with eyes quite that color of green. Even the freckles don't ruin the sight. This thing would have been worth my time, even if he'd been a Beta instead of an Omega."

Jared grinned and ordered Jensen to turn around.

The Stranger whistled at the sight as Jensen moved around, while staying on his knees, Jared hadn't ordered him to get up. 

“May I?” the man asked, his hand already touching Jensen's back, not really waiting for an answer.

“Three Six Five, Position," was all Jared needed to say before Jensen quickly placed his elbows on the floor, lifting his butt and lowering his face on top of his arms. He shivered as the smelly stranger came closer. Huge smooth hands moved over Jensen’s body, arms, chest, legs, then between his legs. Jensen cringed in pain, even as a finger sank in somewhere that felt new and wrong.

“Nicely developed already, if it keeps going like this it should be ready to breed in a year.” Jensen could feel the hairs on his body stand up in fear.   
He remembered when the next door neighbor was pregnant with their baby, and she ended up big as a house, and had to sit with her feet up for the last few months before the baby was born. Jensen didn't think he had enough room in his body to hold a baby like that. 

“A year, seriously Jeff. The kid's barely a few months over eight."

“Why not? You know as well as I do, that Omegas don’t last too long, best to get as much out of this one, as you can get before it’s body gives out.“  
Not long, but what did the stranger, Jeff, mean with 'not long.' Not long as in only a few months, a year, a few years. Even trying to think of anything happening beyond next Christmas was hard to imagine. He wondered if Santa cared to bring presents for cows, probably not. Would Santa want a cow? he was sure he could be good for Santa, like Rudolf. Mom always said that Santa loved animals. Maybe he wouldn't even hit Jensen, or not too much at least, and he'd explain stuff, tell Jensen what was going on. Jensen wouldn't mind having to live on the north pole too much, he was sure of it. 

Jared snorted at that. “Jeff, the reason Omegas die so young is because people like you start breeding them when their body can barely handle the Ambrosia building inside of them, let out throw out calf after calf without a moment of rest in between." Jared's hand touched Jensen’s shoulder and Jensen calmed down under his owner’s touch, trusting that Jared knew what he was doing and wouldn't let Jensen get any more hurt than he had to..

“So what, let it play, lie around, doing nothing?” Jeff sounded disgusted with the very idea, Jensen was ashamed that that had been all he'd been doing earlier. Play with flowers and sit around. It's what grandpa always used to say when he talked about Cows, how they were just good for nothing layabouts who should be happy to have owners to look after them so they wouldn't have to work. Jensen was almost glad that his grandfather had died six months ago, at least he'd never had to see what Jensen became. Jensen wondered if grandpa would still have bothered to read him stories when he was younger, if he'd known what was going to happen.

“They’re in training Jeff, adapting, becoming stronger, building up Ambrosia. By the time they’re ready, I’ll more than get my investment out of them. You know that as well as I do.”And all the time Jared was talking, his hand stayed on Jensen, as if trying to rub those words into Jensen's skin. 

“I still say it’s a waste of time. But I guess you know better. Like you did when your father died.” It sounded like a burn, but Jensen didn't understand why. He could feel the tension building in Jared even and pushed himself into Jared’s touch and the man relaxed somewhat, gently stroking past Jensen’s spine, it tickled and Jensen fought back a giggle. Jared noticed and seemed to be trying to repeat the experience.

“You’re too soft on them Jared. I’ve said so before, and I’ll keep saying it. This farm could make twice the money it does now, if you were only willing to work these animals as you should.”  
Jared’s hand was moving to Jensen’s stomach, Jared had knelt down besides Jensen and seemed to ignore Jeff through his behavior, if not in his words. As if he was telling Jensen with his touches that he didn't agree with Jeff, that Jensen and the other cows didn't have to worry. That Jared would protect them. “That’s crap, Jeff," was all Jared actually said out loud before he got up, leaving Jensen on the ground.

Jared went up to the side of the paddock and leaned on the wooden fence. Jensen quickly looked back down and away from their owner when he realized that Jeff was looking at him instead of at Jared. 

“I’ve shown you the figures," Jared continued, "quality always beats out quantity." He turned around, facing Jeff. "Besides, people love the whole ‘ethical farming’ thing, it makes them willing to pay more money for what’s basically the same product. Treating my cows better gets me the ‘ethical’ certificate, and it means I’ve got Ambrosia lovers from all over the country ordering in my stuff. In the long run, it’s just better business.”

Ethical, it was one of those big words his mom used to look for. Mom had only ever bought store grade ambrosia, and even then only once when Josh had been really sick, but Jensen remembered how she'd longingly looked at the more expensive stuff that was way over their budget, even when both his parents had still had their job.

Jensen tried to focus on the tone of Jared's voice, the rhythm of what he was saying, rather than the meaning of the words coming out of his and Jeff's mouths. It helped, but not by much. 

“Whatever you say, Jared, whatever you say.” Jeff said with a cold and wry chuckle as he too got on his knees besides Jensen. He didn’t ask for permission, just lifted Jensen’s right leg to look in between them. It made Jensen feel like a dog, he wondered what Jared would do if he peed on Jeff. Jensen managed to hold his snicker at that thought inside. 

“This thing really is quite exquisite, Jared. How much did you pay for it?” Jensen didn't recognize the word Jeff used, but it didn't sound like something he wanted to be.

“The usual fee for an untrained calf, fifty thousand without taxes.” Jensen had never realized just how much Jared had paid for him, no wonder his parents hadn't dared say no. You could buy loads and loads of bikes for that kind of money.

“Nice.” Jeff was now touching Jensen’s balls, weighing them on his hand and making Jensen pull back unconsciously, which only hurt more. Jared’s eyes were hooked on Jensen and the look in them became more firm, keeping him in place. Jensen tried his best to stay put. Good cows stay in place, he thought, good cows do as told, good cows don't flinch, good cows obey.

And then Jeff's next words pulled him out of his groove and he couldn't help shaking his head as if trying to get rid of Jeff's touch on his neck.

“You could sell him, you know. Put him up in auction and you’d get over a hundred thousand for him easily, probably more once Kripke and Whedon start in on the bidding.”

“I’m not interested in selling, Jeff.”

Jeff’s grip tightened and Jensen winced. “Yes, I can see why.”

Then before Jensen could tense up, Jeff's fingers were moving onto Jensen’s butt. Opening his cheeks, and sinking one of them inside. It had never happened outside, never while so many other cows were around to see it. And Jensen knew, and understood that they were all looking now, even if they tried not to show it. They had to after all, how else did you know how to do as told if you didn’t keep an eye on what was happening with Jared.

Jared was owner, Jared would protect him, Jared would keep him safe, Jared would punish him if he was a bad cow, Jared...

“Remember that promise you made last time, that I could enjoy the pleasures of one of your cows if I just let you use my name to get those two alphas you wanted.”

Jared's hand cringed on the wooden bar behind him. “Yes.” Jared sounded almost scared. The word hit a thousand different meanings and Jensen was pretty much convinced that Jared didn’t mean any of it.

“I don’t think I’ve ever fucked an Omega.” Jeff said. 

 

 

******

 

“I don’t think I’ve ever fucked an Omega.” Jeff said. It sounded almost wistful, as if it were a suggestion. But Jared knew Jeff better than that. In fact, looking back at the man’s behavior, it was the thing that Jeff Morgan had been working up to since the moment Jared had been stupid enough to tell his business partner he finally had a new Omega.

There were times that Jared wanted to kick himself for trusting Jeff too much, for thinking that maybe, just maybe he could trust Jeff to just be happy for him.

Jared owed Jeff a lot. After the uprising at the farm, it had been Jeff’s help that kept the farm from going under. Without Jeff, Jared would have had no choice but to sell the building and the grounds and say goodbye forever to the place he’d grown up in, the place his father had built, and his grandfather before him.

But then Jeff came in and offered to bankroll the purchase of a new herd. Sure the first five new cows he got were all older, but they gave him enough money to rebuild the main stable and by the time he needed the finances for a younger herd, Jeff had helped him out again. Jeff had been the first one willing to lend him the money he needed to buy another four cows, these ones all under the age of twelve. He’d gotten them from Animal protection, beaten, half starved by some owner who thought that it would be enough to feed his cows some nectar with naked bread. Several of the idiot's cows had died of the mistreatment, before Animal Protection had stepped in and taken the cows into custody. 

It had taken Jared over a year before the calves were fully recovered. Before they were willing to trust that their new owner had their best interests at mind and wouldn't just leave them in a dark stable to rot while they got milked, years before they were ready for the process.

Jared had since repaid Jeff for every dime of his investment, but that didn’t remove the debt he owed the man for saving his father’s farm. For saving Jared of the shame of failing his father to such a degree. But Jeff knew, better than anyone, that the moment the Padalecki farm could start up its breeding program again, Jared would no longer need Jeff’s money to keep things going. Right now the farm was doing well, but Jared had been relying on Jeff as a safety net for far too long. And with an Omega, the need for that safety net would finally be gone. 

Jeff wasn’t a farmer, his knowledge of Ambrosia, or Ambrosia cows for that matter, was limited to drinking the Ambrosia, and the monetary value of Cows. He was a master in buying cows under market prizes and then selling them at twice the value. But he had no patience for them as living beings. To Jeff, it was the same if he was selling cars or cows, it was the one thing him and Jared had always disagreed on, and probably always would.

But ambrosia farming was a profitable business and Jeff wanted his in, his connection to the Padalecki name. And no matter how often Jared could tell him that that connection would always be there, that he already had Jared’s eternal gratitude, to Jeff, the idea that Jared would want to get rid of him as a business partner was a personal betrayal and he would do anything to keep that from happening. 

“Well if you don’t mind waiting a few years.” Jared tried, knowing it was futile.

“Jared, when you made that promise, you said, any cow, any time. Not any cow 'except for the one I want to keep for myself', nor did you say that I would have to wait till a time it was more convenient for you.” Jeff's fingers kept drawing circles around the muscles of Jared's hole and developing omega entrance. And the longer it lasted, the more Jared could see Jensen's eyes cringe in pain, the only thing holding back both tears and screams was the way the calf looked back at Jared, trusting its owner to look out for its interest.

"I say I pick this cow," Jeff repeated, as the tip of his finger disappeared in between the muscles of Jensen's ass, "and I say I pick it now."

“Jeff, it’s only eight. If you do this, it might cause permanent damage. It’s not nearly old enough for full penetration. Just … give it a few years and I’ll make sure to make it worth your while, train him for whatever you want. But just … wait. Or pick any other cow, I’ll even buy you a new one myself, get one from the Foster Agency, buy you one of the older ones that can be…”

“This cow, Jared. Not another one.”

Jared could see that Jensen was shaking, scared and he had to fight the urge to step closer and pull the calf away from the man's touch and pull it behind his back. Damn Jeff, damn it. But if he tried to pull the calf away now, Jeff was likely to damage it before Jared got anywhere close.

“Please, please Jeff, any other, as many as you want, just not…” But Jeff wouldn’t have it, he’d come here planning to destroy Jared, to tear away his hope of finally being able to fully stand on his own two feet again. And there was no way that Jared could convince him otherwise.

“One day, Jared!" Jeff was firm, but clear. "If I don’t have that cow bent over for me by tomorrow, we’re done, Padalecki, and then you can see if you can rebuild this place without Morgan finances. You’ll see which of the two you need more. Some freak with a pretty face and nice ass, or the man who’ stood by you since you were a kid.”

Jared watched his back as he left, frozen. He went up to Jensen and picked the boy up in his arms. Wrapping him in a blanket before taking him in with him to his study. Knowing Jeff’s intentions he couldn’t risk to leave the calf on its own. He finished his mail, and was just about to log out when one last message arrived in his inbox.

Just a link to a holo vid, the kind of meme that spread around the net and that for some reason kept popping up and made his friends think he’d actually be interested in seeing it. He never understood why. Most of it was boring crap, chain letters, half veiled advertising and the rest of it had too much risks of viruses in it to ever risk opening them. 

Oh who was he kidding, he was a sucker for cute animal vids and his friends knew it. 

He checked up on the calf who was trying to stay still on the mat besides his desk. The thing was a bit restless and Jared rolled his eyes at its attempts to hide it. Worst bit is that he knew all too well that the thing couldn't help it, restlessness like that came with the animal's age, but God, it got annoying at times.

“Let’s try a game here.” Jared said, while ordering the calf to sit up. “I’m going to take this;" and then he looked at his book shelves for a second before grabbing an rather large rendition of the Natural Wonders of the World and placing it on Jensen’s head with the words. “It’s your job to keep it from falling. For every ten minutes you can get it to stay put, you’ll get another raisin." The calf seemed definitely interested at that. “But if the book drops before I say you can put it down… he hesitated a moment, “then you’ll have to work for every last one of them. Starting now.”

He could see the calf try and stay still as soon as he left it sitting there, but it was obvious by the shaking of the book, as it tried to slide of the calf’s bald head only hindered by the ties of its bit, that that was not an easy thing for it to do.

Jared went back to his inbox and followed the message's link to the holo vid in question. Some silly vid about a young calf playing with a kitten that had managed to get in the paddock. Cute sure, but come on, didn’t anyone think about the safety of either animal while they were filming this?

He noticed a link to a few more vids once the scene was over and couldn’t help himself chuckling at the sight that soon took its place, of a farmborn calf playing in the mud. He considered putting up some images of his own and ended up pointing his camera towards Jensen, seeing the calf still struggling to stay still enough so the book wouldn’t fall. It seemed that ten minutes had passed already. 

He quickly checked over the images before uploading it on the web and proudly adding the title, “newly developing Omega learning patience.” He had to wait another five minutes before the vid was accepted and put on his account. It was only then that he realized there was a new popular vid up on the main page. Seems like the thing was put up only a week ago and it had over half a million views already. 

It was under the Ambrosia cow tag, so he wondered who’d put it up. The name didn’t seem familiar. There was the name of some TV show character, with a bunch of numbers behind it, which usually meant the account holder was some teen.

He opened the holovid and out popped an image of Josh Ackles. Jared sat back in shock, it was no shock when he heard the book fall from Jensen’s head a few seconds later as the boy stared at his brother’s image on Jared’s desk. 

Jared was too focused on the vid himself to berate the calf for it.  
“Hello.” The Josh in the holo vid said.”My name is Joshua Ackles and I’m 15 years old and this," an image appeared in his hands of Jensen wearing a shirt with a cartoon on it and a pair of cargo pants, “is my little brother Jensen.”  
The image then shifted to focus on Jensen who was shown running after a dog and playing with a bike. Image after image of a happy friendly kid who talked about liking baseball and his love for school, especially English. 

“Jensen is eight years old.” Josh voice said over the continuing images. “He’s not supersmart, or supergood at sports or music, but he’s sweet and friendly. He likes playing games with friends and learning new things.” You could hear Josh’s voice breaking over the vid. “And three months ago, our parents sold him to the Agency. They won't even talk about him anymore." The images kept on of a little boy playing hopscotch with a few other kids. "They say I should move on, my teachers say I should forget I ever had a brother." An image appeared of the little boy sitting on a couch watching cartoons. "My brother is eights years old, he should be in school, playing with his friends, worrying about girls giving him cooties. Instead, he’s being beaten, abused and raped. Please, why does the law allows this?“

And then the holo vid ended on an image of Jensen and Josh caring for a baby bird along to the words. “Say no to Ambrosia.”

Jared couldn’t believe it, was this what Josh thought would ‘make him pay’ or ‘ruin him’, did the boy really think that putting a vid like that online would do anything other than make people laugh at the teenager’s naivety? But then he made the mistake of looking at the comments, the links to other vids, people telling stories of their own. 

Jared forced his eyes away from them and checked who’d posted the vid, and it seemed like this wasn’t even the original posting. It had been picked up at least three times already before it had ended up on the account it was currently at. 

It made him wonder if he should demand them to take it down. It was an invasion of his privacy, seeing pictures of his property shared around like that. But then there was no law forbidding them from sharing pictures from before. The site administrator would mock him for even asking. Politely of course, but still...

And then he noticed Jensen who was curled up on the mat, trying to make himself as small as possible on the mat, tears streaming from his eyes, its little body shaking. For some reason it annoyed Jared, comparing the happy little boy looking at a butterfly with wonder in his eyes, to the scared calf currently trying its best to pretend it wasn’t there. 

Maybe he should let Jeff have a shot. Not full penetration, compromise with the man. Let him have the calf’s mouth and show the cow how lucky it should call itself that it was owned by Jared rather than by men like Jeff Morgan. He could always reward it afterwards. 

He could strike a deal, let Jeff know he was willing to give in, it would make him more willing to accept some rules on the encounter. Omega or not, the thing in front of him was no more than a cow, no more no less. And he could protect his property, no matter what some two bit good for nothing piece of trash might say about him.


	8. Chapter 8

Jensen cringed as he sank down in his booth and touched the floor, there wasn't a single part of his body that it hurt less to sit or lie upon. The floor gave underneath him and yet it felt like he was lying on edged stones. His throat hurt, he knew his body was bruised and battered and he could barely see out of his eyes, especially the swollen left one because of the headache. Jared had had the vet check him over after… after Jeff. 

He'd been curled up in a corner of the shed when the vets car announced its arrival with lots of booms and cracks as the old car managed to come to a halt. Jensen hadn't wanted to move, hadn't wanted to do anything but cry and disappear so that no one could ever touch him again. But it didn't matter what he wanted, so Jared just picked him up and laid him out on the table to give the vet a good look. He hadn't even punished Jensen for not following his orders to get on the table.

The vet said it was mostly just bruises and scrapes, Jensen had been able to see himself in his reflection on the water fountain, and his left eye was all black, the skin around it swollen and reddish. The vet had asked Jared what had happened, Jared said he didn't know. Jensen could have told him that it had happened when Jeff had Jensen but nobody bothered to ask him. It didn't matter anyway. He'd been bad, that was it right? Passing out while Jeff was using him, he should have known better.

Jeff hadn’t liked it when Jensen had tried to check out, not one bit. Jensen had had a hard time breathing as the man kept forcing himself in Jensen’s mouth, in his throat. Jensen had tried to breathe through his nose like Chad told him to do last time, but it was just too much and he’d been about to see black when the flat of Jeff’s hand had slapped his face to keep him awake. The slap pushed him back, but Jeff hadn't let him hit the floor, instead he'd just pushed even deeper and Jensen still didn't know how he'd managed to keep his mouth open far enough not to let his teeth scrape the thing in his mouth, more than he did. That by the way had earned him another slap.

Jeff hadn’t liked it that Jared had put restrictions on him, that Jared had tried to tell him what he could or couldn’t do. No permanent injuries, Jared had said, so Jeff had just made sure to only leave bruises that would heal in time. Not that that stopped him from hitting Jensen with a flogger, nor from using a cane on Jensen's backside. And that had been before Jensen's mind had tried to escape him into unconsciousness.

No anal penetration, Jared had said, so Jeff had taken his throat. It had hurt far worse than when Chad had done it, and at the time Jensen had been scared enough of the stable hand to think that was the worst that could happen to him. He's been wrong. At least Chad had given him time to adapt, time to take a breath, some measure of kindness.

Jeff had kicked Jensen to the wall when he was finished, his way of saying Jensen could go. It had taken Jensen a moment, his head had buzzed and he lost a minute or so after his head hit the wall. But he'd eventually managed to get to his feet 

Jensen’s heart had raced in his throat when Jared stood there and saw him crawl out of the shed. He was in too much pain to walk. Jared had picked Jensen up in his arms and cried. Jensen didn’t understand why, all he knew was that his owner had given him to Jeff. Jared had let Jeff hurt him, hut him so bad and he’d done nothing to stop it. And Jensen just couldn’t understand what he’d done wrong, what rule he’d disobeyed to be punished like this…"Why?" he'd wanted to beg "I'm sorry about the book, I didn't mean to drop it." He'd dropped the book, was Jeff the way that Jared had wanted him to work it off? Maybe he'd missed something. Maybe he'd done something horrible and never even realized it, but if he had, why wouldn't Jared have told him. Jared always told them what they did wrong when he punished them. He said it was the only way they could learn not to do it again. But this time he hadn't done so.

Jeff had left and Jared had carried Jensen back to the shed. Jensen hadn't wanted to go back there, the place was no longer a safe place to hide from the other's eyes. It meant pain and getting hurt and wanting to scream for Jared, knowing he wouldn't come. But he didn't struggle, he didn't want Jared to call Jeff back and tell him he needed to be punished again.

And then the vet had come, her hand brushing through her eyes, her hair messed up, clearly tired, until she took a look at Jensen. Her eyes had cleared up in a second before she glared at Jared. 

Jared had started saying something about a deal with Jeff Morgan and the vet had yelled at him over that before she stopped herself. Jensen heard her mutter about any idiot that would let any kid anywhere near that man, but it was said in a low voice and Jensen had a hard enough time making out any sound.

His throat hurt, both from Jeff, and from trying to scream through the bit. 

The vet was gentle, she seemed conflicted about something, but in the end she just rubbed some kind of salve on Jensen’s skin before taking a quick scan with her handhold and drawing out some of Jensen's blood. Jensen shivered and tried to get away as she did so, but Jared held him in place. Jared didn't leave until the vet asked Jensen's owner for his papers, she said she needed to see if there were any reports on his previous blood work in them. She waited for Jared to leave the shed, looking out one more minute after he did so, before she pulled a camera out of her bag. Jensen blinked at the quick flash as she took first one picture, and then a few more after checking that Jared wasn't in sight. By the time Jared returned, the papers in hand, the camera was long since put away and she'd gone back to her work of making sure that Jeff hadn't left Jensen with any broken bones. Turns out his ribs were only bruised. Jensen started to wonder if he'd only imagined the camera.

The alphas tried to sit with Jensen after Jared brought him back in, but Jared wouldn’t let them, ordering them out of Jensen's booth. Jared was furious and Jensen just wished he knew why, what he’d done wrong. And then for just one second Jensen was angry with Josh, because Jared hadn’t been this angry before Josh.

Jensen struggled to get himself up, his back resting painfully against the wall of the booth. He wanted to get away from it, but it hurt even worse if he tried to sit up without support. Jensen remembered a time a few years ago when he'd fallen of his bike, and had come off all bruised up. His mom had placed him in the bath, and she'd cleaned up his scrapes and bruises, before she'd given him the biggest kiss ever on his forehead, to tell him how brave he'd been. 

Jeff's kisses had been nothing like that.

“I’m sorry, little one.” Jensen looked up shocked that he hadn't noticed the man arrive, hadn't even noticed that he hadn't left when Chad did. He knew he had to get to his knees, but he couldn't bring his body to do so.

Jared pushed Jensen back down, and sat next to him. Jensen started trembling, but Jared didn't seem to care. He grabbed some kind of container, before turning his attention to Jensen. “I know you don't understand, I know that Jeff... was a bit rougher than he should have been. But sometimes humans have to make sacrifices, sometimes we have to give in on things that are important to us, to protect other things that are even more important." Jensen just wanted to beg him to tell him what he'd done wrong, why Jared had let Jeff have him. 

That was the rules right, if you were bad you got hurt, if you were good, you didn't?

Jared picked up the container and opened it, there was something hot and steaming inside. The scent of it was familiar somehow, reminding him of his mother and lazy Sunday mornings. Jensen barely managed to see whatever it was. “Open your mouth, little one.” Jared said.

Jensen obeyed, but his lip was broken and it rewarded him for the move with a feeling like if he was cut by glass. He pulled back in shock and surprise when something sweet touched his tongue, he looked up and noticed it was a pancake cut into dozens of small pieces. Jared would feed them to him by hand and Jensen had no choice but to accept them, to feel the taste and letting himself be pulled back in time.

“Like that, little one? That’s what happens to good boys, they get treats.” But all Jensen could think of was those last moments with his dad, when his father had taken him out and rewarded him with one last treat before selling him. He’d been good then too. 

It didn’t matter if he was good, if he obeyed or not. Being good was a lie, just like Jared pretending that Jensen could trust him. Pretending to be nice so Jensen would do what he told him to. And it wasn’t fair. Jensen had tried, he’d obeyed, he’d done everything Jared wanted him to, and Jared had still given him to Jeff, just like Dad had still sold him, no matter how often he'd cleaned his room or watered the flowers or helped Josh with mowing the lawn.

It didn’t matter if he was good, he pulled away from Jared, it didn’t matter if he behaved, he kicked back when Jared tried to come close, his foot hitting the container, it didn’t matter if he did what he was told to do. 

Jared grabbed him close and Jensen fought through the pain. All that mattered was that he couldn’t trust anyone. Because in the end, he was nothing, a thing to be used and thrown away. And he should have known that, should have remembered it, if Jared hadn't been nice to him, he would have. 

Jensen saw the look on Jared's face, the shock in his eyes at Jensen's rebellion, the way it turned to anger. Jensen tried to run, and failed, Jared grabbed him by the back of the bit and Jensen nearly choked on the leather.

“Damn it three six five, what the hell’s the matter with you?”

Jensen growled, ignoring the bit tearing even further in his lips and started kicking and hitting at Jared’s body, he was just so angry that he started screaming even with the bit in his mouth. The words came out muffled, nigh impossible to understand. 

“Liar, liar, you said it wouldn’t be so bad if I was good. You promised you’d only hurt me if I was bad. You’re a liar.”

And he kept on with his onslaught until he was too exhausted to move, tumbling over in pain up to when Jared just grabbed him over his shoulder and shackled him up to the wall. Leaving the shackles long enough so Jensen could keep his feet on the floor, but even then it was hard to stay up.

Jared didn’t say a word when he grabbed the whip. The large one, the one that Jensen had only seen used once, and even then only when one of the cows had refused to be put in production. Jensen just glared at him, waiting for Jared to start, expecting the sting of the whip, but Jared didn’t, he just left Jensen hanging there and stormed out of the stable. It was too much for the boy to take and he finally blacked out. 

When Jensen woke up it was to the sight of the other cows, the alphas were trying to get his shackles off the hook that Jared had hung them up on. Jensen wanted to warn them not to do it, that Jared might get even angrier if they did, but he couldn’t find the strength to even try and mutter anything. He was lucky, any further attempts at talking might have been enough to summon Jared in right this second and he’d already lost all feeling in his arms, which wasn’t too bad right now.

The Alpha that Jared called Thumper was the one who finally managed to get Jensen off the wall. He was the one who motioned at the others to get some water, and who cared for Jensen. Someone had cleaned up the pieces of pancake that Jensen had kicked to the floor and Jensen couldn’t help being annoyed because he’d wanted to stomp the things even more.

It was long past night time, sleep time. The stable was its usual dark with emergency lighting and he could see Thumper and several of the others stare up at the cameras. As if challenging Jared to punish them for taking down Jensen. At this point, Jensen couldn’t bring himself to worry about that, his limbs were starting to ache and he could feel every inch of his body scream at him in protest whether he moved or not.

Something was slipped in between his fingers, before he was left alone. He looked at it as soon as they were gone, careful not to be in watch of the camera. The thing was a slice of apple. The word on it was written in cherry juice, cut into the apple-flesh with a nail, hard to make out, but still there.

The word Trust, crossed out. 

Jensen ate away the evidence. 

 

******

 

Jared wanted to kill Jeff, to shove his fist in the man's face. He couldn’t believe the bastard had actually succeeded in ruining his Omega. It made him wonder how Jeff would react if Jared went to his home, demanded the use of his favorite car and then went on to trash it. See how much Jeff would like that.

And to think that Jared had believed he’d found a way out of his so-called 'friend' pulling this kind of crap. He should have known better than to expect Jeff to be professional, just this once in his life. 

One day his little Omega was a sweet little calf, gentle and obedient, the next it was a little spitfire that refused to take a single order. And why? Because of something Jeff had done to it. And the worst part was that Jared had no idea just what Jeff had done?

Jeff had seemingly been literal in following Jared's conditions, but had gone as far as he could without crossing them. Some bruises shouldn't have been enough to ruin months of conditioning. He knew that much.

So when Jeff called back the next day, Jared slammed down the phone, planning to cool down before he completely burned his bridges. 

Jared wasn't even sure why he bothered to go online. Probably to get his mind of Jeff and the memories of all the previous times that Jeff had pulled crap like this. Selling experienced cows that Jared still needed, and replacing them with new ones that were too young to be used. Messing up something, just so Jared would keep needing him. 

Thinking about the Ackles kid instead, was like a minor annoyance in comparison. Maybe if he found out where Josh had put up his original video, he could do something about it and get rid of one of the things bothering his life. He figured if he was going to do something about the brat, he might as well see if the brat had more of those little surprises up on his site. What he didn’t expect was to find the vid reposted on the front page of the American Abolition Movement, or AAM for short.

The AAM was one of the largest abolition groups in the country, still mostly ignorable, but like PETA they kept showing up and making fools of themselves at the worst possible moment. PETA at least had had a high day once upon a time, the AAM on the other hand kept trying to get a break, but there wasn't a major news cast that took them even remotely serious.

Abolition Groups were nothing new,some of them, had been active since the early days of Ambrosia, never accepting that they lost, nor willing to even consider the importance of Ambrosia to the world. But most of them were small, easily forgotten. 

They did things like protests in front of the Agencies, forced themselves on parents about to sell their offspring to be tagged, scaring the cows to be in question and making people feel bad for making some money. Not that Jared felt all that sorry for anyone who sold their children only to have second thoughts afterwards. 

If you weren't sure that what you were doing was the right thing, then why do it in the first place. Either a child was a failure that had to be gotten rid of and be given a new place in life where it'd stand a better chance of belonging, or it was a human and should never be sold. 

Either way, it was a parents right to choose what to do with their offspring, and if they decided to sell, then the protesters had no right to make them feel even worse about it.

Most Abolition groups were like that, like a bunch of pinpricks just picking away at you until you couldn't help but scratch it.

Hell the biggest one had operated about fifty years ago, calling itself the Underground Railroad, they’d made a habit of stealing cows and then trying to keep them hidden from the authorities. When they were uncovered, most of the active members were sent to jail. Several of them were still alive, a few of them had even managed to finish out their jail time. But most of them were from before Jared’s time. 

Jared remembered watching bits on the news when one of them was about to be released, people had been throwing rotten eggs at the man for trying to screw up the city's main industry. Detroit didn't have much going for it, and when people messed with the one sure thing that gave people their jobs, they tended to react badly. 

The worst part is that the group might have kept getting away with their crap if one of the cows they'd stolen hadn't gotten hit by a car. The thing had been wandering on the street, crossing over to follow its thieves, when a speeding car had turned into the street and hit it full frontal.

The thieves had tried to grab the calf before realizing its injuries were too severe for the calf to be moved. The thing ended up dying on the way to the hospital. When the paramedics tried to save it, they injected it with drugs meant for humans, a lot of which could be lethal for cows. The thieves could have stopped it, if only they'd spoken up. Instead they'd kept the calf's status hidden, preventing it from getting treated by a vet who knew what they were doing. By then the couple had long since slipped out.

The cops had only barely gotten there in time before the couple had gotten away with the other five cows they kept in their house. All of them dressed as if they were human, the cops had had a hard time bringing them back. Many of them were terrified and when their disguise of humanity was taken away from them, the cops had had to stun them to keep them calm.

Both thieves were convicted for animal abuse, on top of theft and illegal possession. God only knows how many of the other cows would have ended up dead because of two idiots inability to realize that what they were dealing with weren't humans.

The police had gone through their computers, and managed to salvage date from a quickly erased hard drive. They'd found links to the rest of the organization. Only half of the stolen cows were recovered. The poor cows had to be punished of course, disciplined, even if it wasn’t their fault that their thieves had made them pretend they were human. A few of them had tried to kill themselves before the authorities could bring them back to their rightful owners. Nobody knew what had happened to the others, though the assumption was that most of them had fallen in the hands of black marketeers, illegal Ambrosia houses that had clients pay huge fees for the chance to personally milk a cow. 

Jared didn't even want to think of the damage done to those of them that had managed to stay underground, pretending they were human until their bodies finally gave out on them. Constantly afraid, in hiding, pretending to be something they weren't. It was a life he wouldn't wish on anyone, let out on a bunch of innocent cows that never asked to be freed in the first place.

That group’s downfall had cut down most remaining support for the Abolition movement in general. Because there was nowhere for them to go. There was no way to get them out of the country, the borders were too strictly controlled for that. Sure there were some countries that had turned against the Ambrosia Industry, but most of them were religious freaks who saw Ambrosia Cows as Abominations against nature and God. And if the cows were unfortunate enough to get caught in Mexico, they might as well be dead, because Mexico considered Ambrosia an illegal drug and their scorched earth laws in regards to drugs, ordered the death of any Ambrosia cow that entered the country. 

It was crazy, yes Ambrosia was addictive, but so were most sorts of alcohol and tobacco. High quantities of Ambrosia could give people a bit of a high, but the medical advantages of the drug were so high that they made the use worth it. If the US could see that, why couldn't Mexico?

But no, they couldn’t risk the drug getting spread, the authorities said. 

Only ten years ago a small cargo plane carrying a few cows had had to make an emergency landing just across the border to keep from crashing before they got to Belize. The pilot and the people inside were arrested, while the cows, mere calves aged nine up to twelve, were given a lethal injection on live television. All of them had been breeders, four of them had been Omegas, sent off to Belize to start a new breeding program. International protest had tried to save the Cows and get them out, but the Mexican authorities had refused to show mercy, to them it was just a way to make clear how serious the Mexican authorities were about upholding the law. 

Most people were ashamed, almost scared to show any connection to any of the Abolition groups. Their protests were often connected to the anti-Ambrosia laws and most Animal Protection Groups saw them as as much of a risk to the animals, as those people abusing the cows. Even mentioning that you didn’t find them all that ridiculous was enough to get you blacklisted in several professions and could get you treated as a joke in the rest of the world.

Of course it wasn’t all that weird for teenagers to get involved with their cause. They were the most likely targets for groups like that. Too young and stupid to realize what they were getting themselves into. And too shortsighted to see the long-term results beyond their righteous rage.

They stood too close to the age in which cows were tagged, and didn’t see all the advantages in science and medicine that Ambrosia had allowed for. They were too young to remember epidemics like cancer or AIDS that were practically wiped out thanks to medicine with little more than milligrams of Ambrosia in them. The difference between a life of at most a century, or of two centuries never entered their mind. Nor did they think about things like Alzheimer that was virtually wiped out amongst those who took Ambrosia. 

Most of America’s economy rested on the Ambrosia industry, on the spread of the product across the world, considering that the formula for nectar had been carefully contained within US borders. 

There were Ambrosia cows across the world of course, but the Nectar to create them and to sustain them, was created by Americans and would remain that way for as long as possible. There were huge Ambrosia farms with thousands of cows in Africa that had helped drag entire nations into the Industrial revolution, bringing them from third world to first world countries in less than a century. 

What would happen to those countries once they could no longer export their Ambrosia, where they supposed to just go back to farming an unfertile soil? To letting children starve, instead of feeding them well in exchange for their produce. 

And most of all, what did the Abolitionists think, would happen to the cows if they were ever freed? They weren’t human, they’d never be able to cope in regular society. They were subhumans, ruled by their instincts, sure they could pretend, but in the end, that was all it was. Like putting trained chimps out on the street and expect them to suddenly start taking care of themselves. It was a cruelty that Jared didn’t want to be a part of.

He bought those cows, and that made them his responsibility, even when they were stubborn, disobedient pains in the ass that seemed to hold a grudge about something that wasn’t even his fault. But then, they were only animals and he shouldn’t be angry at an animal when it was reacting on instinct against something that caused pain.

Trigger, response, it was all basic psychology.

Jared wondered who'd given Josh Ackles a link to the AAM site. He was sure that they must have been drooling over the vid from the second they saw it. Josh drivel on Jensen was actually one of three featured holo vids. The other two were about a new Agency opening its doors in Houston. And a vid on parents protesting the use of Cow rounders in the outskirts of the city. 

There were a lot of runaways in the big cities, and the Agencies tended to employ Cow Rounders to look for kids that were obviously vagrants and without guidance. The law said that a Rounder could bring in any kid under the age of eighteen, that couldn’t point at a suitable guardian to pick it up within ten hours. 

It was a good law to make sure that people kept their children close, kept them from causing trouble in the streets, causing damage, getting into drugs or Gods knows what else they could get into without adult supervision. 

The Abolition Sites of course liked to go on and on about kids that were taken from playgrounds and tagged right on the spot, as if any Rounder would really risk the fines that came with that. They tended to prefer getting as many kids of the street as possible, and if they were lucky, they got to keep a tenth of those, putting the rest back in their parents hands, with a good scare to make sure they were more careful in the future. 

Of course if a kid didn't heed the warning, and they got picked up a third time in less than a month, the Rounders had every right to tag them on the spot. Since it was proof that the parents were letting their kid run wild. It was vids of those rare events, that naturally made headlines on sites like these.

Jared wished that he could make the Ackles boy see that the group was just taking advantage of him, using his grief to make a statement against all of the Ambrosia industry. It’s not like the people in charge of those groups really gave a damn about the cows they wrote such heartfelt essays about. If they did, they’d be focusing on helping with the Animal Protection Movement, demand checks on factories, help the small farm free range industry, instead of attacking hard working farmers who just cared about the good of their animals. 

Jared was about to close the site when another vid popped up. He rolled his eyes and opened it. The face of a young boy appeared on screen. He had a mop of thick red hair, and clear tanned skin. Pretty enough, but not like his Jensen. 

“My name is Daniel, and I’m seven years old, I’ll be eight in a month." The boy's eyes were red as if he'd been crying. "I came home from school yesterday and my mom was talking to some rep of the Agency. I tried to leave the room, but she made me stay and told me to," the boy shivered, "to let the man look at me." The vid shook a bit at that point. "The man kept asking her questions and she... she said she was waiting for me to turn eight before selling me. She said she didn't want any part of my dad staying in her house." The boy started crying. "I’m scared. I don’t know what to do, my dad’s in prison, and I can’t even call him, I can’t call him and I don’t know where to go. I don’t … I don’t know what to do.”

The boy’s image sat there, staring at the camera, Jared had no idea if it was staged or not, if it wasn’t, he wished he could go talk some sense into the boy’s mother, get her to calm him down and make him see sense. It was obvious the boy was a burden on her and the kid should realize that and look forward to finally becoming useful, instead of being a waste of space. Jared just hoped that the vid wouldn’t work against the kid once he was tagged, once he was a cow. It almost made him want to buy the boy for himself, just to keep him safe. Just too bad that the accounts location was several states away.

Jared closed the page and turned the cameras back to the stable. He let its eye glance around before he focused its view to Jensen who was watching the cow in front of him who was currently in production. 

Jared wished he knew what to do, how to tell Jensen he had no reason to be scared of him. But there was nothing he could do, not till Jensen got over his current snit and realized that his attitude wasn’t helping anyone, least of all himself.

He really didn’t want to punish the boy, but he would if he had to.


	9. Chapter 9

There were some things you needed to know, to survive on the Padalecki farm. Little things, most of them learned by experience, a lot of them hard taught, and with enough pain behind them to make them stick.

The first one was simple. Always kneel when Jared, Chad or Chris entered the room, came near you, or where in any other way looking at you. Failure to do so would just get your ass kicked and/or your back flogged for good measure. Kneeling could mean anything from getting to your knees, to bowing down as deep as you can get to make it clear you know just how low you are. Kneeling also put you at the perfect height if one of the humans needed a blowjob. And no, it was not a good idea to keep your mouth shut if they did.

Don’t complain about the food, seriously, just don’t. And if you're stupid enough to complain, eat it anyway.

Be happy that Jared spent so much time with his hands up your ass, cause the butt plugs he uses get bigger with every passing month, and the probes were damn big in comparison to anything that Jared had been using so far. Maybe if you were lucky, you even got to leave the shed without him putting his fingers up that other place as well. 

Don’t complain about the food, this really was a big one and needed repeating. Also, don't tell Jared about how you spotted any of the others hiding their food and spitting it out as soon as the humans were out of the door. All you had was each other and betraying your fellow cows was a sure way to make sure you had no one left. 

And every night, when someone got called up the house, don't show your relief too much if your number went uncalled. But if your number was called, you went up in the house happily and thanked Jared for the privilege of sucking his dick. If you were really lucky, you got Chris, who’d just take you to the wash room in his house and then let you sleep on the mat with the dogs. The St Bernard especially was soft and warm and he never minded it if you put your head in his fur. The Jack Russell wasn't as soft, but he'd let you share his food, leftover steak and meatsnacks that somehow still tasted better than the food you got in the stable, which you still weren't supposed to complain about.

Chris never did anything past petting a cow’s head, he would look embarrassed if you even went to your knees in front of him when his wife was anywhere near. Jensen was pretty sure that the only reason he didn’t tell Jared not to pull any numbers out of the bag for him, was because he didn’t want to lose his job by telling his boss he wasn’t interested. On top of that, Chris’ wife was really nice and always gave you something to eat before Chris had to take you back to the stable. 

A piece of bread, a rare bit of milk, they were treasures to be cherished. Even if they were given along with looks of pity. She never spoke up, but you could see she wanted to. She'd given Jensen a piece of chocolate once, it nearly got Chris fired when he took the blame for it after it made Jensen sick. 

Chocolate was for humans, a cow's stomach couldn't handle it. Jensen missed ice cream. Especially Rocky Road.

If on the other hand, you had the misfortune of being picked by Chad, then well… Jensen hadn’t had to go with him personally, but the guy smelled so human that he really didn’t ever want to get near him, let out go up to his cabin on the grounds with him.The cows that went with him never came back all that bruised, so it's not like he would beat you up. But they came back tired, so utterly tired, and Jensen had seen the looks on their faces when they had to go in production, too milked dry to give more than a few drops, no matter how much Jared would try and do.

And last but not least, when you did have to go up with Jared, hope he didn’t find anything upsetting while he was checking his mail. Because he was always worse when he saw one of Josh’s holo vids.

The thing was though, that after the third time Jensen had his number picked, and he’d realized by now just how lucky he was that Jared was waiting for him to age before taking his ass, Jensen was almost starting to like those times when Jared was pissed. Because when he wasn't, and he'd take his time with you, then he's spend all his time making you feel on the edge of something that he didn't quite understand. His fingers would feel so warm, and he'd tickle you and play with you as if you were his favorite toy. And in that warmth you'd almost start trusting him.

But when Jared was angry... Jensen didn’t like Jared’s anger turned on him, nor did he like the bruises or the taste of human come on his lips, but Jared’s anger became like a big letter in the sky that read ‘Josh still cares’.

Angry or not angry though, Jared would always stop at that one point, he'd never put his dick anywhere other than in Jensen's mouth. Not in his butt, and not in his... pussy, he hated that word, but it's what Chad used, Jared never called it anything while Jensen could hear it. Jared said he was waiting, that Jensen would know when he was ready to be milked, and that Jared would help him with his first time. Jensen hoped it would be a long time off. 

It was stupid, but after two years of being in the farm, it was that bit of hope that kept him from just giving in and losing himself. Oh he could pretend with the best of them, most who’d spent more than a few months at the farm could do that. Drop, kneel, position, silence, eat when told, … it was easy to let your body follow the orders for you, and just obey. 

But on the inside, there was still a part of him that was Jensen, Josh’ little brother. It was getting harder with every day, to remember how to read and write, how to tell time, how to count the days of the week and remember that there was such a thing as toilet paper and towels.To remember that food could taste better than the gruel smudged in their bowls, that there were things that made you feel good when you ate it … 

And the only reason that he could cling on to that part of him, was because every time Jared got angry, it reminded him that his big brother was out there, thinking of him and fighting for him. And that… that was a pretty cool thing to know. 

Jensen wished he could ask how the others managed it. He looked up to Thumper who was the oldest cow in the stables, and who was quietly dignified, no matter what Jared did to him. Or Dapper, the beta in the booth across of him, who would roll his eyes when he thought any of them were being ridiculous and never lost his sense of humor. Dapper had been punished more than once when Chad or Jared caught him 'mocking' the humans, but he never let it stop him from doing it again.

And then there was Daisy, who well, didn’t have an official stable name yet, but Jensen had heard Jared call him Daisy often enough to know it would probably stick. Daisy was that weird sense of innocence, that no matter what Jared did or say, he always had a smile for you. All it took was the sight of a flower and he’d be happily pushing it in his face and enjoying himself. Even though Daisy was slightly older than Jensen, he always made Jensen want to hide him away and keep him safe. To the degree that any of them could do so for any of the others. Daisy never made anyone angry, not even Chad. But Jensen knew that Daisy was still there, still human, after all, Jensen had seen him read the text on some of the food bags that Jared brought in. Always careful, never letting himself get caught.

This one time, Jensen had seen him practice his letters in the dirt under the tree, easy to hide when Jared or one of the others came near. They never caught on.

Jensen wished he knew what Jared’s name for him was, but maybe it was better than he didn’t know. It was bound to be embarrassing. He hoped it wasn't too girly, but he knew he'd have to accept whatever it was.

That morning, Jared had taken him to the nursery. The new building was close to being finished and Jensen feared the day it would be done. He didn’t want to be stuck in a separate building, much as they were all locked in silence, it felt good to know the others were there, that the others cared. The day he would be relegated to the nursery, he’d be alone. He wasn’t sure if he could handle being alone anymore.

Two new kids were crying in their booths. They were shackled to keep them from trying to hide and probably scared to death. Jensen could recognize that look they threw at the rest of them. One of them had looked at him, and Jensen had seen a spark of recognition flash through the boy’s eyes, when Jensen gave him a couple of grapes. Jensen had no idea why. He just touched the boy's leg and tried to tell him how to pull the shackle higher, it hurt less when it didn't rest on your ankle.

The second boy kept messing with his bit, trying to pull it out of his mouth. Jensen wished he could warn him not to do it, but he’d long since learned his lesson about accepting what was inevitable. They were cows, cows didn’t talk, even cows with big brothers who still cared. 

Chris pulled his number that night, Jensen happily went with him up to the cabin and sat at Chris and his wife's feet as they watched television. He wasn't supposed to be in the main room, but Chris didn't seem his regular self.

"I can't do this anymore, Suze. I don't know why I ever took this job in the first place."

"I know." Suzie fed Jensen a strawberry and Jensen nibbled at it, staring up at the screen, amazed at the colors. He'd forgotten the names of any of the characters, but they were flashy and light and their voices sounded like angels when they sang. "But you have to, Chris, if you leave, who knows what kind of monster Jared will hire to replace you. The way he treats those children." She looked up at her toddler who was already asleep in her playpen. "I don't know how that man can look at himself in the mirror."

"Suzie not, not in front of the b... not in front of the cow, please."

Jensen put his fingers in his ears, if they didn't want him to listen, he wouldn't, he knew how to be good. Chris looked away.

"They say that things are changing, even that singer Doria is fronting for the AAM now and no one is casting her out. Maybe..."

"Maybe one day..." Jensen didn't understand why she cried, he just stared at the television, a kid's voice was laughing, it was an unfamiliar sound.

 

*****

Reality was turning wrong, like waking up in a Salvador Dali painting, like the world was upside down, left was right, clocks had faces and cows were all of a sudden vulnerable little pets that needed protection from anything and everything. Jared threw his pad on the table after staring at the new regulations.

One day, everything was as it always been, the next, Animal Protection was insisting that the cows had certain ‘needs’. That they had to give them blankets at night, that they had to have time off the machines, which Jared already did, so no problem there, and that they needed ‘entertainment’. It seems that the modern-day cow psychologists believed that cows could go insane from boredom and end up harming themselves. And no, giving them a ball to play with was apparently not enough.

Jared had heard from some people over at the factory, they were pissed, more than that. With the changes Animal Protection was asking for, they were bound to see their profits plummet.

The change was actually easier on small farmers like Jared. It helped that he was free range, and that his stables were already set up for the cows to walk around outside their shifts. A lot of other farmers had a lot less security on their stable doors, since their stables were set up for the cows to stay in place except for small supervised walks outside. 

Many of the factories didn't even have waste facilities, the cows were cleaned out of waste three times a day, so it hadn't ever been necessary for them to go relieve themselves away from their booths. It's one of the few laws he actually full heartedly agreed with. It couldn't be healthy, even for a cow, to be stuck in the same place for most of their life. He'd seen too many cows with sores on their legs and ass from the lack of movement, their minds utterly vacant, eyes looked in one place at all times. Bodies, but not alive. 

 

So Jared had for the most part been lucky, the changes he had to make were minimal at most and he'd had calls from several of his neighbors asking for his help with their new set up. All his cows now had matching blankets to which they clung as a dog to a bone. He'd made sure that they were all identical and that they could be switched around as needed. That would making things easier on laundry and kept the cows from getting too attached to one particular item.

But much as he'd hated to let them have anything close to property, he'd had no choice but to allow the bears and cuddle toys for the younger calves. It seemed that they needed something to 'connect to'. Jared hated the idea of it, the only thing he wanted those cows to connect to, was him. It was an easy way to let them get attached, to win their trust. Making sure that all their feelings were focused on him, rather than on their past. But of course, a bunch of academics knew better than men that actually dealt with cows on a day to day basis.

He’d managed to buy a couple of sprinklers for outside that the cows could run through, and a light set up for inside. It gave their eyes something to follow and their minds something to focus on. It displayed a varying mix of images in light and shadows and seemed to have the added advantage of calming them down. Half of the time they’d be staring at the images moving on the walls, almost as if hypnotized. 

As he got supplies at the warehouse, he’d had to endure several of Doria’s greatest hits coming out through the speakers. There had to be at least three of her records in the top forty. He almost hated to admit that he actually liked her music, a soft memorable voice over a background of harp, violins and silver bells. She was one of the biggest voices in Harpop today and one of the biggest musical discoveries of the past five years. If she were actually able to keep her mouth shut outside of her music, he might actually be a fan.

Unfortunately she was also a total bitch who tried to rally her entire fanbase up against Ambrosia. She was young of course, a mere thirty four and she was starting to look it, refusing to take Ambrosia. He’d read an article a while back where she said she refused to ‘support the minions of the order of the Sith’. 

Jared had had to spend some time online before he realized she was comparing them to the bad guys from some classic 2D movie from the late twentieth century. 

Jared hated how people who didn’t have a clue about Ambrosia Farming, would judge the entire industry based on some bad apples. Looking at things in shades of black and ignoring everything that didn't fit their little boxes of how the world was supposed to be. Just because his cows looked like humans, didn't mean they were. 

Last week, Doria had introduced Josh Ackles at one of her concerts. The boy was 18 now and he’d allowed himself to be used as the front man for the AAM. The real power behind the movement was of course in older hands, but it made them look good to pretend a kid like Ackles was in charge. The crowd had cheered at the boy when he came up to give some crazy speech about Ambrosia farming. 

Jared wouldn’t say he got all the details wrong, in fact, Jared wished he knew where Ackles had gotten his facts, because he knew a lot more than the average citizen was supposed to know. But Ackles was missing the big picture, and never seemed to think about the reasons behind the actions. Seeing them as signs of evil instead of efficiency. 

Not that any of that mattered to the crowd. The boy was charismatic, he knew how to give a speech and had them hanging on his every word, by the end of it he had every last person in the hall ready to fight on his side.

"Please," he said, still looking like that fifteen year old boy he'd been three years ago when he'd threatened Jared, "help me bring my brother home. Say no more to Ambrosia" And then he stood there as images of Jensen appeared in the air behind him, as the audience kept repeating those three words, “no more Ambrosia”, as the music started up and the beginning notes of Doria’s latest hit single rang through the crowd. 

“We cry for the lost generations, we cry for the damned, we cry for the children who have no voice. And we say no more.”

As Josh left the podium and the crowd sang along with Doria, more and more images had appeared on the screen, Jared guessed that all of them were shots of kids before they were tagged. Melodramatic, but unfortunately with this kind of crowds, highly effective. 

Ackles had bodyguards now, large burly looking men, ready to jump into the path of fire for him. Their size and presence made Josh look younger than he was. Jared wished he could say the idea of it was ridiculous, over the top. But he knew as well as any one who followed the news, that there’d had been two assassination attempts on the boy in the past year alone. 

Ackles life was at risk at any moment, even amongst supporters, it only made him look like more of a hero to most of his followers.

MacKenzie Ackles had disappeared last year. Jared had heard rumors that the the girl was now living in Mexico, along with some cousins of theirs, smuggled out of the country while Josh was on tour. And that neither Ackles child had any contact left with their parents, both of whom had looked devastated whenever Jared saw them. No one could even come close to proving that Josh had anything to do with his sister’s disappearance.

They said she went off the grid, weeks before pressure could be put on the Ackles to get their son to back off. Jared was happy for it.

Because as much as Jared hated the brat, and the personal grudge that the kid held against him, he felt that they should be better than that. Murder attempts on the boy only made his case for him. Threatening the sister made them look like the bad guys, while little Josh Ackles got to play the heroic martyr. 

Worst of all though, was that even some of the politicians had jumped on the latest bandwagon, trying to make themselves look more relevant. One in particular, Texas State Representative Danneel Harris, had been clamoring at the House for Cow rights, bringing up some bill that only three years ago would have seemed unthinkable. 

If they succeeded, the law would be put up on the next ballot during the state elections only four months from now. Who knows how far notions like this would spread if they actually won.State officials all across the country were keeping an eye on Texas, just waiting to see if they should follow suit or not.

A restriction on the purchase of new cows. And a complete ban on giving nectar to human children. If the law made it through both House and Senate, then it would become illegal to buy children and tag them with nectar. Let's not even think about buying girls to breed new cows, because all human girls bought by the factories would have to be let go. Can't enslave humans or so the law would say. Once that happened, there’d be a serious drop in new Ambrosia Cows in Texas, since they’d become entirely dependent on the current number of Omegas for further breeding. Sure you could bring in cows from other states, but Jared knew in advance that that’d probably mean a serious hike in the prices.

It was the worst kind of law, ill thought out, impractical and ignoring decades of tradition, putting thousands of people out of a job without a moment's consideration and yet somehow, chances seemed higher than ever that the law would make it all the way through. 

It’s why Jared was in town instead of Chad. Jeff had suggested that he’d make sure to get as many cows as possible before the law got through. Jared hated making a rush job on something that important. He'd checked in at the agency and barely found five kids worth his while. He'd sent in for Chad to pick them up and had gone out to get supplies to set up for an additional fifteen booths. The new calves could stay in the nursery with Jensen until their new home in the stable was ready for them.

It was only thinking of the young Omega that could bring a smile to Jared's face at this point. The calf was growing up and a few hours ago, Chad had found that Jensen had gone into his first heat. Too dangerous to breed, but God so delicious, so hungry for touch until it was over. 

Tonight Jared would take his time, milking the calf for the first time in its short life. He could hardly wait.


	10. Chapter 10

He could see the sunshine through the windows, but Jensen didn't reach for the light. Instead he sat cramped up in the shed, he was in hiding, cowering away from humans and Alphas alike. Things had been wrong since that morning and Jensen was too afraid of both his own body as the others to be found.

It's not like the other alphas had actually done anything to harm him. In fact, they hadn't laid a finger on him. The younger ones had kept staring at him, sniffing at something unfamiliar in the air, sniffing at him. The older Alphas, ... they kept trying to get close, to follow him wherever he went. At first it was just this load of tension in the air, more annoying than anything else, but as the morning moved on, it started to scare him, the way they were acting like they weren't themselves. Thumper had looked at him with a note of sadness in his eyes, but even he couldn’t stop the urge to get close to Jensen. His low growl aimed at the others to keep them away gave Jensen just enough time to make his escape when Chris had entered the stable to give them their food.

Jensen wanted to shrug it off, to just forget about it all, and pretend that everything was as it always was. But his gut burned, he was sweating worse than he would have after he ran a marathon and his skin was starting to feel hot enough to burst in fire on touch.. He couldn't eat, tried to drink, but all of it came back out. Chris noticed, knelt down next to his booth, in an attempt to stop him from trying to refuse his feed again before Jared would notice. Jensen made a show of trying, got some in his mouth. But all of it came back out seconds later. 

Chris then patted his head, removed the food and quickly threw the bowl's contents with the rest of the trash before moving on to the other cows.

Dapper crawled over to Jensen's booth immediately after breakfast. The beta just sat there, he'd simply put his hand on Jensen's shoulder, as if to ask him how he felt, and suddenly the heat increased, demanding more, his mouth watered, his ears were ringing and he was starting to itch, starting in his balls, up to ... that place. The new one, the thing that made him an Omega. 

He had a hard time standing up and got dizzier by the second, and every time he moved, more of the alphas were looking at him. The older ones had their hands on the floor, as if desperate to keep themselves in place, growing at the younger ones when they came too close to Jensen. But something told Jensen to be careful and worry for whatever the older ones seemed to try and prevent.

He wasn’t sure what he should be worrying about, just that they were acting all creepy. The worst part is that he could see it on the older ones faces, that they genuinely fought to stop themselves, to not take that extra step. But he had no idea what it was that they were holding back. 

He saw at least one of them trembling in a corner, as far away from Jensen as he could manage to get, clinging on to the water rail as he sat there, fingers holding so tight they were nearly bloodless.

Chris seemed to notice the tension as well. So even as he halted at the door, looking at the sky, he'd still let the calves out later that morning. Jensen could see several of the older Alphas rush to their booths. They never did that unless Jared was looking on and seemed impatient. But Jared wasn’t there and they seemed almost as starving for the machines, as the feeling in Jensen's gut made him feel for something, he wasn't quite sure what he was hungering for.

Jensen had cringed as the sun rose over them and hit his eyes, he forced himself to keep walking, to stay on his feet, his legs spread slightly with every step. He was glad when Chris said he didn’t have to go on their daily run with the others, the man seemed worried for him. Jensen knew he shouldn't trust a human, but the concern felt nice. 

Chris was the only ones there. Chad and Jared weren't in sight. Sure there were the guards, keeping an eye on them from the guards house next to the electric fence, but the cows never had to deal with them. Not as long as they were smart. Safe and sound, somehow those words seemed meaningless as he sank down to the ground, his legs opened wide, he tried to rub his butt against the wall, it wasn't enough. 

He'd tried to follow the others with his eyes as they ran, he'd tried to focus on them instead of the cramp in his dick when it went thick like Jared’s did when he made Jensen drink his human come. Jensen's balls were aching, something inside of them was desperate to fight its way out and he almost started rubbing them just to find a release that woudln't come.

Jensen hadn’t wanted to touch his dick, he didn’t want to look at the filthy thing, or have anyone else stare at him as if he were meat waiting for the dogs. 

He wouldn’t ever be able to explain how he even managed to get to the shed, all he knew was that he found himself there, sitting under the table, whimpering.

Jensen had no idea how long he sat there. Time had only one true meaning in the stable, production, its shifts. Time defined when it started, and time defined when the probes came out and the cows were allowed their limited freedom. Time said when they woke, and when they closed their eyes, but beyond that it had no meaning for creatures only meant to serve up a part of themselves. 

When the sirens rang through the air, he startled up, the sun was higher in the sky than it had been when he came in. He was unsure what was going on, in all his time here, the sirens had only gone off five times, three of those had been practice drills, the other two hadn't been. 

Once it had been Josh, the second... no one in the stables wanted to even think of the second one. Jensen fought the heat inside of him to get up to his feet, knowing the drill, he had to get to headcount, but his body wouldn’t cooperate. He’d just managed to get himself to his knees, his hands supporting him on the floor, while his dick seemed to have a life of its own, throbbing between his legs, when the door of the shed slammed open.  
Chad stood in the door, two of the guards right behind him.

Jensen let himself drop down, still shaking. Chad’s furious glare faded and was replaced by a note of something Jensen didn't half recognize, before he turned back to the guards, ordering them to cut the sirens.

“Seems like we’ve found our little runaway.” Chad snickered, there was a fire in his eyes as he looked at Jensen, a way he looked at him that reminded Jensen of the one he'd seen on the other Alphas' faces. Only unlike them, Chad seemed to have no hesitation in grabbing hold of what he wanted. 

And still Jensen could only focus so much, and the thing his mind hooked on was one word: "runaway".

Jensen’s eyes fell wide open at the bad evil word. Runaway? No, he hadn’t, he’d just wanted to… to calm down, he hadn’t run, he wouldn’t. His heart started beating, increasing his panic. He wasn't bad, he wasn't stupid, he wasn't a stupid mindless cow, wasn't...

He wanted to beg, to get him to understand, he hadn’t tried to run. He hadn’t. He tried to sink even deeper to the floor, but then his dick hit his chest and he cringed at the burst of heat climbing down to his butt.

Running away was not an option, was never an option. One boy had tried it in all the time that Jensen had been here. Jensen had been new back then, still healing from Jared's punishment after the Alphas took Jensen down, thinking that maybe it was better to run, than to ever again let Jeff, or Jared himself, touch him, use him. 

Chad had gotten a pick for the night. And the boy had looked so scared when he heard his number called for the night. He'd taken a look at Chad and started shivering. Then just as they reached the door, he'd tried to run, tried to get away from Chad. The boy had been taken by Chad before and he’d gotten so scared that even running away seemed like the lesser option. 

The siren had rang almost instantly, as soon as Chad touched the button on his belt that activated it. Jensen had seen that same look in his eyes then, that he saw now, aimed at himself.

The guards found the boy of course, he hadn't even managed to get near the fence, his feet bleeding and scraped from running over fine stones and nettles. Jensen and the others hadn't dared to move when the guards dragged him in.

Chad and Jared were the ones who put the boy in his booth. Jared had pushed in the probe himself while Chad attacked the suction tube to the boy's dick. It was a familiar sight, one they'd all seen dozens of times before, that most of them knew the feel of. But unlike the other times, Jared and his men, wouldn't let it end. They stuck the boy, the cow, on the machines, and then they kept him on them, after a while, even the bit hadn’t stopped the screams from echoing through the stable. 

And the tube just kept sucking, Jensen had heard it even as the others were released from theirs. They had to listen to it as they were made to feed, as they were told to go to sleep. It didn't stop, it wasn't allowed to stop.

The rest of them hadn’t been allowed to leave the stable at all that day, or the one after, none of them moved any more than they absolutely had to, listening to the screams. Many of the younger cows had started whimpering when production started up again, but none of them dared to refuse when they saw the other cow still shaking in his booth.

Jensen didn’t know his name, Jared never called him by one, just his number, but he knew the boy's face, those dead eyes that spoke of nothing, it was like there was no one there, like he was just pretending, moving, but no one was home. The resident had vacated and all that was left was a shell, that sat there, fed, released himself and got milked, but his heart, his soul seemed gone.

You didn’t try to run, you just didn’t.

“It’s alright kiddo. I get it.” He grabbed hold of Jensen’s dick and Jensen couldn’t help a low whine under his bit as the fingers laid touch on his flesh. Because even that minimal a touch made the pressure build up.

“Chad?” Jensen was too overwhelmed to do anything more than listen to Chris' voice, it came at a distance, as if Jensen's head was stuck under water and Chris was standing above him. Even though the man couldn’t be much further than standing at the door of the shed.

Chad didn't yell, Chad didn't curse, what he did do was turn to Chris and snicker at the man's worried tone.

“Let me guess, the alphas have been acting weird all morning?”

“Yes.” Jensen could hear the sound of Chris keys rattling.

“The cow’s in heat, it probably went crawling to the first quiet place it could find.” Jensen tried to focus on the man's words, to please understand what was happening to him, why this like all the other things happened to him, but not to the others.

“In heat?”

“It’s an Omega thing, I wouldn’t expect you to understand, it happens every few month, three days before they get their period, first heat is always the worst, drives the animals insane with need. Makes them want to breed the bitch till she’s filled with a litter of calves.”

“She?” Chris question came with a snicker.

“Oh you know what I mean."There was a note of false sympathy in his voice as he continued. "The poor thing probably couldn’t take it anymore and crawled here to die.” Jensen heard Chris take a deep intake of breath, real sympathy, the difference was tangible to Jensen's overly active senses. “Not literally, you moron, figuratively, the little death. Best thing for it to happen is for Jared to get home and give it a good fucking, should set it to right for the future.” Jensen felt his heart fall still at the word 'fuck'.

“But…”

“I’d love to do it myself.” Chad said softly, while his fingers rubbed up and down Jensen’s dick, making him cringe. “But Jared’s a bit of a possessive bastard, he always likes to get them through their first milking himself. He says it’s to ‘make it easier on them’. Me, I think he just likes the taste of a first glass of milk.” Jensen could feel his eyes start darting around, looking for something, without any idea of what.

“You’re sick.” Chris said before he put down the Tazer he’d been holding. He wasn’t looking at Jensen, in fact he was making an effort to look anywhere but at Jensen. 

“I just got a healthy appetite,” Chad answered back. He picked Jensen off the floor and Jensen gave in to Chad's hold as he was carried out of the shed, pushing his head up against the man's shoulder. Jensen clung to him, the touch almost made him beg. It didn’t help when Chad gently slapped Jensen’s ass halfway to the Nursery. 

There were a few new cows waiting in the Nursery, Jensen could see their fresh new brands, felt and smelled the burning metal set to cool down against the wall. Jensen barely caught a glimpse of the new boys' faces through the haze covering his eyes. Chad threw him on some kind of bench and Jensen felt his limbs go lax as he went down. The bench was covered with a soft cushion that gave way with his body, like a nice soft pillow, but with just enough firmness not to fall straight through it.

He ached as he moved, bent over the bench, while Chad attached a suction tube to Jensen's dick. Just that, nothing else.

Jensen could hear the sound of two of the new cows crying in the other room, a third was whimpering in the corner, nails kept hitting wood, while something dripped just out of sight. Jensen didn’t know why that seemed to be more important than what Chad was doing to him. 

But then Chad closed the door between the main room with the new boys and the room that Jensen was in. The sudden silence was like a balm, turning his attention to the mirror in front of him and the sad excuse of a creature looking back at him with wide open eyes, pupils fully extended, his hands clutching on to the bench for dear life. Watching the other him look small compared to Chad standing next to him.

Chad grabbed Jensen's wrists one by one and shackled them to the side of the bench, then he took Jensen’s feet and separated them, locking something between them. Jensen couldn’t see what it was, he just knew that he couldn’t manage to close his legs. He couldn’t really care about it, since every part of him felt about ready to burst up like an overblown balloon. It wasn’t like when he absolutely had to pee and wasn’t allowed to go because Jared wanted him to learn patience, this was far far worse.

In the end, he didn't even notice when Chad left, until the sound of the man's breathing had left as well, leaving Jensen in the silence and the dark. Time past and Jensen tried to sleep, tried to make time go faster, but all he could do was think of the hungry look in the Alpha’s faces. 

“Appetite” was the word that Chad had used, as if he were a particularly good snack. When Jeff had said he’d wanted to fuck Jensen, he’d put his dick in Jensen’s mouth. Filling him till Jensen could feel the man’s balls with his lips and Jensen had nearly passed out.

Jared was always careful when he did it, and he never called it ‘fucking’ when he took Jensen to his room. So Jensen had no idea what was going to happen. Was Jared going to beat him and use his mouth, like Jeff had? But Chad had said Jared was going to milk him. Was this what it felt like to the other cows, the reason why Chad and Jared had to put them on the machines so they could stop hurting?

He wondered if maybe he’d been wrong, maybe the milking was just Jared’s way of helping them so they wouldn’t hurt so much? He just wished he knew why Chad had brought him here, instead of to the milking machines in the stable.  
He hadn't tried to run, he hadn't, but they wouldn't let him tell them that.

His body was about to explode by the time the door finally opened.

 

**********

Jared stopped a second to take a look at how the new calves were settling in. They pulled away in fear as soon as they saw him enter. It was annoying that there had to be so many at the same time, he'd barely have time to pay attention to all of them individually. One cow in particular was trying to hide away behind his blanket, Jared would have to make it clear that if the thing tried it again, the blanket would have to be taken away. At least until the cow realized that covering up was not an option. It shouldn't have any shame about its looks, shame was a human invention, and the sooner his animals got over it, the better.

He took a quick look at the set up of the nursery. There was the general room, that soon would be set up for the farmborn to grow and play until they were old enough to go to the stable. There was a basin at the side to clean them up, and all the medical tools needed to help bring new cows into life.

The nursery was plain, with white painted walls and clear lights, emergency lighting ready to jump on in case of a power failure.

Two of the calves huddled together and Jared petted both their heads before moving on the last of the new calves. The cow was thirteen already and would be ready to be milked in a month, it just needed to get some nectar in it before that happened. The animal had had its tongue cut out as punishment for running away from its parents when it discovered it was going to be sold. Any rounder knew that such behavior had to be punished before the cow was sold to the farms, Jared just wish they'd do it in a less damaging way. He made sure to check up on how it was healing. Sometimes the cow rounders were careless about hygiene and he had to be sure the animal wasn't infected. The cow looked well enough for having lived on the streets for two years. A bit of a rebel, Jared could see that Chad had been forced to discipline it already, it's back a wide array of cross marks painted in red. 

He moved to the back of the nursery, there were three separate rooms. The birthing room annex breeding room, easily switched between the two, depending what furniture you pulled out. An observation room on the side where people could watch what happened in the first room through a one-way glass.

And the third room which was ready for the vets use and served as a provision room the rest of the time. 

Jensen was already set up in the breeding room, the calve's body stretched out over the bench. Every muscle in his body tense with a mixture of heat and fear.  
It was one hell of a sight, Jared couldn't help enjoying the look on the cow's face, placing his hand on the glass, knowing the cow couldn't see him while he took in every last bit of the cow's perfect body. It made him wish there were cattle prizes for Ambrosia cows. But there hadn't been one of those in Texas for the past few decades, not since the underground used them to strike attacks and steal the cows on display. That and for some reason people seemed to be hesitant to come visit them, no matter how much attractions they added to the fairs. Still, Jared knew that if he could sign up even just one cow to bring home the blue ribbon, it'd be Jensen.

Oh sure he’d known that Jensen was beautiful. He’d been in thrall of the boy long before he’d managed to buy him. He remembered how hard it had been not to keep looking at the kid, all of that day, and after. Watching as Jensen played in the water and his shirt hung tightly against the boy's dimpled skin; his mouth watering at the thought of those eyes looking back at him, while those smooth full lips kissed his skin and that tongue moved over his dick. He palmed himself as he eyed the way they went at the lollipop that Jared had paid for all the kids to receive. Staying away, but watching, always watching.

He’d even considered making an offer to Ackles, every year until the boy turned eight. It was a silly obsession, he knew that, and yet, he'd lingered in those moments of looking at reports of the Ackles bank account, wondering how much it would take, how high his offer should go. Hell, he’d thought of buying out the Ackles mortgage to get his hands on Jensen. But then Roger put Jensen on the market himself. 

Jared still couldn’t believe his luck, if he’d gone to the Agency a day sooner, or a day later, Jensen would have ended up at another farm, Jared couldn't imagine the horror of missing out on him after all that time. But no, Jared had been there and gotten him. It had to be destiny.

Jensen was the future of the farm, that alone made the omega important, but to see the thing laid out like this, bent over the breeding bench, ready to be used in all its submissive glory, it was the kind of miracle his father spoke about when he read Jared old fairytales, the special ones that were just for Dad and him. The ones that usually ended with the little prince bending over for the king and letting Daddy play with his favorite toy. 

The cow was trembling, it was a testimony to the sturdiness of the bench that it didn't even rattle under him. The cow would still be unable to see Jared, bent over like this and Jared introduced his presence, placing his hand on its thigh. He could feel the fever in its veins under his fingertips. He checked its temperature, cleaning up the anal thermometer with a paper wipe and warning it up in his hand before gently opening up the boy's hole and pushing it in. The hole opened up easily, readying itself, and he was almost disappointed when he had to pull it out to check the temperature.

"Shhh little one, it'll be alright. Everything is going to be fine." He said, his hand rubbing circles on the cow's back. 

But Jensen wasn’t listening, not to Jared at least, its ears twitched and Jared scratched behind them, seeing its head bent low, its eyes closed and its mouth sucking at something invisible. Jared calmly pulled out his belt and opened his pants, pulling out his dick that was already growing hard. His balls ached at the beautiful sight prepared before him and he couldn't wait to end the little cow's despair, to give the poor thing all it was likely begging for.

 

Jared took his time to calm himself down, he brushed his hands over the cows legs, letting it get used to his touch. The sound Jensen made sounded almost like a groan and Jared smiled as he pulled back, standing fully up and stretching himself as he swallowed one last time, he didn't need to see to grab for the bottle of lube that Chad had set in place besides the bench.

Jensen shone in the soft light, and Jared couldn’t help let his hands wander around the boy’s body, exploring every inch, every freckle, paying particular attention to the boy’s obviously paining balls. Jared almost wished that Chad had waited to attach the suction tube, but he could play with that part of the cow’s anatomy later on. They had years to look forward to, no need to rush it.

Jensen moaned, even the bit in his mouth didn’t stop the soft yowls that spoke of pain and need. Jared gently removed the bit, it’s the one promise he made all the cows, when he milked them manually, the bit came off. It was a reward for good behavior, but even with the bit out, most cows knew better than to try and talk. It was one thing to let them scream and groan and beg, but he had no need for backtalking or disobedience.

Jared wouldn't answer questions, no need to reward curiosity, it wasn't a good trait for a cow to have, so no need to encourage it.

Jared’s fingers lingered on the cow's chapped lips, just on the right height, for them to lick whatever Jared put in front of them, before he moved back up to the cows ass cheeks. There wasn’t an inch of fat on his cows, the cows bodies could seem so human at times, that it took a close look like this to see how inhuman they really were, how their bodies were refined to perfection. Jared let his fingers move between the boy’s asshole and his clit, testing out both. 

The asshole was still wet, slightly lubricating like it had been while the clit formed it's way in between the thing's balls and asshole. Jared knew from experience that that wouldn’t last, it was just a final stage in the Omega’s sexual development, but it was so delicious while it did. 

The clit sucked his finger in at the most minor touch, like getting pulled in by quicksand. It was ready, more than that, it needed this, it needed him.

Jared could feel himself going hard just at the thought, Jensen just seemed so small, the thing was starting to shake and Jared knew he was being cruel to leave it waiting this long. But still he had to take his time, even if it meant feeling the cow almost tearing itself apart in its need. He covered his dick with a condom, just to be sure before he finally slowly put his dick at the cow’s pussy. 

Sinking into the virgin flesh, feeling himself slide through the hymen and tearing it out of the way. Jensen was screaming, an indefinable sound of pain came out of the young cow’s lips as its eyes teared up and it body started bucking as if struggling to force Jared out. 

Jared spoke soft words of comfort in the boy’s ear, remembering what it had felt like back when his father first let him service him. First times were the worst, no matter how prepared you were in advance. "Just let it happen, ride it out." he whispered, the cow's entrance now at just the right angle for him to move in and out as he forced himself into the cow's sheath.

Jared knew better than the cow what was good for it, so he kept control, forcing himself in until his heavy balls touched the cow's butt. It's legs spread wide, out of the way like a ballerina ready to go into a split. Jensen ended up sobbing and Jared was still hard, still needed his relief, so he pulled out, removed the condom and covered both his dick and the boy’s asshole with lube before he sank back in, this time in the cows still virgin ass.

Where its earlier screams had been a combination of high yelps of desire and need, the newer one was even more delicious. Begging for relief, begging for mercy. Its body was so small, that pushing himself inside of the tiny asshole had to feel like he was splitting it apart. But Jensen needed this, Jared needed this, so he continued, forcing himself down, the weight of his body held back by his hands on the bench.

“Please no.” They were the first intelligible words Jensen had said since Jared owned him and Jared pushed in harder to make it clear who was in charge, what he expected of the cow. Jensen didn’t know what he needed, didn’t half understand what his body wanted of him. Not him, it, an animal, his animal.

Jared kept up the low diatribe of softly spoken assurances, “shh little one, just a short bit longer.” And when he hit its prostate and Jensen started coming, Jared could feel himself letting go as well, almost jealous he couldn’t last as long as the Omega could, but holding on and on until he couldn’t help but slip out of the slicked hole.

“I’m sorry.” Jensen said, continuing the word over and over. “I’ll be good, please make it stop”

_“I’m sorry.” Jared said, sitting on his knees at his father’s feet. “I’ll be good, please make it stop.” But the machine didn’t stop, went on endlessly thrumming in his ass, making him beg for mercy._

_“Quiet Jared. You need to know what it feels like, what we’re giving the cows. How can you work the probes if you don’t understand them.” All Jared knew was that the sensation was overwhelming, that it hurt, that he needed to come. 'Oh God daddy, stop, please stop'_

_Then his father’s cane hit his back, thighs and buttocks.  
“Now sit still and it’ll be over soon._

_And Jared sat back and waited for it to end, he was a screaming mess by the time it did._

“Now sit still and it’ll be over soon.” Jared said, pulled back in the present, looking down on his property, at the little failure that was all his. That’s why its parents sold it, because it had failed, failed the tests, like so many of Jared’s brothers had. If it hadn't been a failure it's parents wouldn't have sold it, no matter how much money a farmer would have offered. Only failures got sold.

Parents tested you, they had to, they had to separate the cows from the heirs, had to know which ones were worth keeping, and which ones would just be a burden on society. Which ones would help build up their communities and which ones would only drag the world down to their own level. 

The failures could be pretty, they often were, it was the gift God gave to them, and through them to their owners. But they’d failed and so they deserved this. They deserved his touch as he gently cradled and tickled the boy’s balls while the machine picked up the last drops of ambrosia. It wasn't their fault, they were never meant to succeed, never meant to be more than animals, so you treated them kindly, but firm, always making it clear what they were and why they were in the place they were.

But it wasn’t enough to be just pretty, it wasn't enough to look like a human, to be one, and Jared pushed his fingers back into the cow’s hole, careful not to cause a tear in the cow’s inner lining, using the advantage his long fingers gave him to reach to the cow’s prostate, rubbing it slowly and surely while the cow started spurting again. Slowly and steadily, Jared could see the milk pass through the tube and focused his full attention on milking the cow till he had the very last drop wrung out of it.

This, this is what cows like Jensen were meant to be, the full glory of their being and he glowed at the sight, at holding the bottled up essence of the cow's purpose.

It was several hours and several fuckings later before the cow was finally wrung dry. Omegas weren't as good, as fruitful as an alpha, but the ambrosia inside of them was somehow sweeter, as if seducing the Alphas into breeding with the addictiveness of their tastes. 

If he let the alphas have Jensen before breeding time, they wouldn't ever want to leave. And Jensen, Jensen was his. He could be shared, but never truly given away, safe in his hands, for all time.

“See, little one, that wasn’t so bad, now was it?” But Jensen wasn’t answering anymore, whimpering quietly, still saying sorry, still saying no, still begging him to stop. Jared gently removed the suction tube before he picked up the garden hose and cleaned Jensen up, paying particular attention to the cow's bottom and chest. Jared was careful not to put too much pressure on the boy's sore cock before sucking it one last time to get at those last spills of dry come that still clung on to its skin.

He carried the little cow in his arms. Cows were failures, they couldn’t pass as humans, but that didn’t make them worthless. Their lives meant something, because farmers like him gave them the opportunity to do so. 

Jensen wasn’t a calf anymore, gone now was the time to play, soon it’d be ready to be bred. Jared felt almost sad for the cow’s finished childhood, it was always hard to see one of your animals grow into adulthood. He was just happy that he’d been able to be there for the poor thing when it needed him.


	11. Chapter 11

Jensen clung to his blanket all through that night. He was scared, scared of his body, scared of Jared and wishing he’d never ever have to see a milking tube ever again. But that hope was futile. Jensen had to look longingly after the calves as they left after breakfast the next morning. He shivered, still slightly wet from his cleaning and clinging his blanket to his chest while he waited in his booth. When Chris and Jared got to him, he couldn’t help cringe at Jared’s touches, but he didn’t pull away, didn’t make it harder on them. He was old enough to know better, or so Jared told him..

But Jared didn't just hook him up and left, he made sure to touch Jensen's nipples, caress his lips and let his hands wander all over Jensen's body before he was satisfied that Jensen wasn't about to bolt.

Jared's fingers lingered as they opened up Jensen's hole, moving inside of him for a second before he finally inserted the probe up Jensen's ass. It made him feel like he urgently had to go, it stretched him, it was almost as big as Jared had been the night before, and far larger than any of the other objects Jared had ever placed inside of him. Huge and cold. Jensen shuddered as Jared pushed the probe up against that special place that almost made him see starts.

And then Jared moved on to Jensen's dick, caressing it, touching it in a way that almost made Jensen spurt right there. But the suction tube was put in place before anything was gone.

The machine started up in his butt and for a moment he forgot everything but the sensation it dragged out of him. It didn’t really hurt, just overwhelmed him, making his body demand for things, his balls swell up and when the suction started it was almost a relief to just let go and go. 

And for a short while, it was awesome, giving himself up to the pleasure. Forgetting where he was, or what was happening. Utterly overcome by the sensation. But the longer it lasted, the more it drug out of him, the more it started aching, as if he had nothing left to give, except that more kept coming with every passing second. 

When Chris finally released him, he fell down on his stomach, his body sore as if he’d been running for hours. He was exhausted. The others were still going and he knew that was normal, cows new to production were never milked as long as the others were. Only for a short while, not nearly long enough, but they'd give him time to adjust, or so Chris explained it. Jensen was scared of when this grace period would end, if it was this hard for just the shorter period, how bad would it be when he had to be on the machine full term. 

He knew he should be taking advantage of the opportunity and relieve himself. But he couldn’t move. His limbs lax and unwilling, it took one of the Alphas not in production to come up to him and help him up, to get him to the raster. 

Jensen sucked his lips, at this the alpha brought his fingers to Jensen’s lips and Jensen sucked them for a second before sinking down on the raster, feeling the metal cut into his knees while he got rid of his waste. Still feeling dirty even as the Alpha helped him over to the straw to clean up.

“Thank you.” Is what he’d said to the alpha, it was a part of their language, the one that Jared, Chris and Chad, especially Chad, didn’t see.   
Lick another’s fingers and it meant thank you, bring your fingers to their lips, and it meant “You’ll be fine”, touch their thighs and you were asking them to pay attention, if you then got up right away, it meant “follow me”.

Giving water meant “You’re family”, giving food meant “I like you.” And standing by their side when they came of the machines meant you wanted to be friends. 

It was an intricate language of body movements and motions, of soft growls and puffs, of rolling your eyes and raising your ears to listen. It was hard to learn, but what else did they have to do here in the stable. 

Dapper was still in production and Jensen's eyes were hooked on the way he moved and moaned, watching the probe pump into him, and the way he trembled under its touch. Thumper touched the back of Jensen’s shoulder, reminding him not to stare. And Jensen listened and followed the older Alpha to the food bench. 

Thumper was the oldest in the stable, the one everyone looked up to. He'd been here forever and knew everything there was to know about everything. It was soothing to let yourself fall up against him and have him protect you, look after you. It was the closest thing any of the calves had to a mom.

When Jared came to release the others, he looked at Jensen for a while, Jensen stayed on his knees as he did so, and when Jared stuck his dick in Jensen’s mouth Jensen quietly sucked it. Maybe Jared needed this, because he didn’t have the machine, and he just didn’t realize it hurt after a while? 

Jensen tried to imagine what it’d be like for their owner, but it went beyond his understanding. No more than normal, Jared was human, and how could a cow possibly understand what things were like for humans. 

They now had quite some time while the others went in production and Jensen managed to get to his feet. He felt like he would never be able to touch his dick again, and the notion he’d had as a young and silly calf of his dick falling off, in retrospect almost felt like wishful thinking.

When Jensen finally got outside, he noticed the newer boys sitting there with the rest of the calves. Most of them looked scared, too afraid to put a step out of line. they were gathered together in their own small group, desperate to ignore the other calves even as the others tried to include them in their games. Jensen remembered feeling the same way when he’d just gotten to the farm. Scared and lost, and not wanting to ever belong.

He stretched out a bit as he got to the paddock, trying to get his limbs moving like they were supposed to, they felt ready to drop off after hours of holding the hunched up pose needed for production. 

He noticed one of the new calves staring at him, Jensen nodded at the boy before looking away himself. The new boy seemed a bit old to be new, most calves his age would have long since been put on duty and Jensen was surprised that the kid hadn’t been tagged before now. There was something about the way he was eying the place. Glaring at the guards, at Chad and Chris who were talking about something on the side of the yard. the new boy looked away from them as soon as they looked back, but it was almost as if he was doing more than just getting used to the place. 

Jensen wondered what was up with him for a second before moving on to the drinking fountain. He pushed a bit of water in his face and stood there trying to catch his breath when all of a sudden he felt a hand on his shoulder. He startled up, he hadn’t been staring at anyone, surprised to find the new calf standing behind him. Jensen was surprised he hadn't heard the boy coming, he had to be more out of it than he'd thought he was.

It wasn’t until the boy opened his mouth as if to say something and then quickly shut it again, that Jensen noticed the other boy's tongue was gone, the cut looked ugly, uneven as if someone took their time doing it. Jensen worried for him, because no tongue meant it’d be harder for the other to please Jared. Without a tongue, Jared would find other ways to use your body to please him and Jensen could only shiver at the memory of how much last night had hurt. 

What was the oddest about it, is that the boy looked at Jensen as if he recognized him. Jensen had no idea how, he’d never met the kid before and he was pretty sure the kid hadn’t been at his school back when he’d still been human. The boy kept trying to talk, trying to say something, but the lack of a tongue combined with the bit made his words sound like grunts and moans instead..

Jensen quickly placed one finger on the boy’s lips, saying “please be quiet,” trying to get him to stop before Chad or Jared noticed what he was doing.

Chris would let it go, but Chris always let a lot of things go, Chad and Jared would not.

But the calf didn’t seem to notice it, or any of the other warnings Jensen tried to give him, looking at Chad and Chris while touching the boy’s hands, taking a step back and freezing to tell him to stop, falling to his knees as soon as Chad came closer, none of it seemed to work. The stupid cow didn’t even bother to get to his knees, he just kept standing, refusing to submit even when Chad was almost right upon them, and Jensen had no way left to yell at him to just follow suit already. 

Jensen quickly did the only thing he could do, grabbing the other boy’s leg and forcing him down. He prayed that Chad hadn’t noticed it. Jared didn’t like it when his cows fought, didn’t like it when they got too hands on with one another, even if it were only for play. Jensen desperately fought to control his breathing while Chad coldly inspected the boy next to Jensen who was glaring at both Chad and at Jensen himself. 

Then Chad slapped the boy around the head, before he pulled Jensen’s bit aside and forced his dick in Jensen’s mouth. Jensen barely had the time to open his mouth and cover up his teeth before Chad went ahead. Jensen couldn’t choke, couldn’t fall. He quietly wrapped his tongue around Chad’s dick, hoping to get it over with before his gag reflex kicked in, he was glad when Chad pulled out mere moments later, spilling all over Jensen's face. 

Jensen returned his eyes to the earth, feeling it stick on his nose and cheeks, but too desperate to try and wipe it of. He barely flinched at the sound of Chad’s zipper, and another slap hitting flesh, it wasn't his, followed by a yowl from the new cow. The other's then. 

“Take an example from three six five boy, it at least knows its manners.”  
Jensen waited until Chad’s feet were no longer in sight, untill he heard the man’s footsteps in the mud before he got up and moved to the fountain to get some more water and clean off his face. His throat hurt and Chad's come tasted awful. 

The boy was staring at him, shaking in place where he'd fallen. His cheek still red from where Chad had hit him. Jensen offered him a handful of water. But the kid refused, He climbed to his feet and grabbed his own. 

Jensen fought not to let it get to him. The new cow didn’t know the language yet. The boy was crying, big fat tears rolling along his cheeks and Jensen quickly placed a hand on his, “it’ll be fine” whispered in every move. Then he intertwined their fingers, “you’re one of us now, we’ll look after you.” 

It didn’t seem to help.

 

 

*****

 

Jared wasn’t even sure why he’d agreed to this. A moment of temporary insanity he was sure of it. It’s not that he wasn’t proud of his farm, God knew he was. Nor did he think he had anything to hide. If it were just him, he'd allow school trips so kids knew the effort put into ambrosia farming. But this, to allow a camera team on the premises could have seriously messed up his cows, putting that many strangers and their equipment around them for a prolonged period of time, could upset them and sour the milk. It’s why he’d made sure to make rules, to let the reporters know the restrictions, so they wouldn’t cause any more trouble than they absolutely had to. 

And they'd agreed to the rules, wouldn't set a foot beyond the places he'd show them, wouldn't try and talk to the cows, wouldn't touch any of the cows without his permission. He even got to decide who did the interview in the first place.

Jeff ended up being the one to convince Jared that it was even a remotely smart thing to do. Hadn’t he always said that the reason people started to listen to the abolitionists was because they had no idea what the farms were like, because they listened to the AAM’s horror stories and were clueless about reality. 

The holo station had even given him first sight at the documentary afterwards, letting him see in advance what would be shown.

So why not show people the truth?

The show came on in two minutes and Jared poured himself a drink, petting the head of the cow that sat at his feet. Jensen was doing a good job of sucking his dick, not in a way that was too distracting, but a gentle enduring connection that kept him mildly aroused. It felt a bit like drinking a good wine, keeping him in a good mood. He started to think that he might want to repeat the experience sometime in the future, who knows, certain movies his friends insisted on him seeing could only be improved by having a cow around to keep him happy.

The Texas vote on Nectar would be tomorrow, The show going on should sooth people’s minds, make it clear that the farms were nothing to fear, that the sold slaves were well taken care of and that there was no reason to worry over the use of Nectar. Hell, Jeff told him that even if they lost the vote, it wouldn’t really make a difference. In the long run, it might even be for the good of the industry. 

A lot of the AAM’s current march to success came from their members talking about their lost children, brothers, friends, … if they took that away from them, then Jeff doubted that people would care the same about the ones already tagged. People might care about human children, but why should they give a damn about a bunch of animals?

All the ban would do in the end, was to raise the profit marges made from Ambrosia. After all, if the demand was higher than the supply, then there was no reason that the farms couldn’t raise their prices. In the end, the only ones seriously hurt by the law would be the factories and it's not like they were that great a loss.

All the industry needed was one generation, just one, to separate humans from cows and people would just… stop caring. Farm born never even had memories of human lives to begin with. All they knew was the farms. It made things far easier on them, than it was on the other cows.

The show started off gorgeously, showing off the farm from the distance, the buildings standing tall in front of the rising sun. while the show’s host in the field, Sharon McIntyre stepped out of her car. 

Then the shot focused on Jared who came out of the building to welcome her, while a voice over explained that the farm had been in the Padalecki family for the past century or two, adapted from a dairy farm to an ambrosia farm when the need for such places became known.

The camera seemed to get him just right, better even than he'd expected. A bit large, looming over the reporter, but his jokes seemed to come off all right and he didn’t look too much like the caveman his friends liked to joke he'd resemble. 

First he showed her the house, the offices, the guard chambers before moving on to the paddock and the fields. It was too early for the cows to be out yet, but you could see the woman standing there, her hand on the wooden rails, enjoying the sight of the sunset over the fields. 

“This place is beautiful.” She said as she twirled around, looking in awe at the stables and the paddock in front of it. There were flowers planted everywhere, wild ones on the grass and cultivated ones surrounding the paddock. “The cows must love it.”

“We try to let our cows get out as often as the weather allows. I've never seen a cow that doesn't flourish under a lot of sunlight and fresh air.” The Jared in the vid answered. They moved on to the drinking fountain on the paddock, with Jared showing how it activated as soon as he placed his hand under the metal faucet. The fountain looked simple but elegant. Suitable for what it was needed for and relieved of any sharp corners that the cows could hurt themselves on. 

The camera focused on Jared as he placed his hand on the door handle while pressing his other hand on the sensor. “The door’s got double security, the sensor checks for fingerprints, while the handle does a quick check for DNA. The cows can’t open the door unless there’s a fire in the barn. When that happens, there’s an instant alert sent to the guard towers who can release the DNA lock on the doors if needed.” It was the risk of dealing with animals intelligent enough to try and play tricks on their owners. Jared didn’t leave enough to chance in the stable to give the cows anything to start a fire with, but he’d known enough of his friends who hadn’t been as careful. "It also protects the cows from strangers who might try to do them harm."

The doors opened up on the sight of an every day morning. Light shone through the thin window linings in the roof, leaving a shimmer of dust particles in the air. Everything looked perfect from the wooden beams in the ceiling, to he cold fibers of the booths and the warm flesh of the cows. Like his own little sanctuary.

Jared leaned back in his chair and smiled at the sight of how clean the stable was, Chad and Chris had spent an entire afternoon cleaning up and brushing out any dirt that could show under a camera. They’d sent all the cows out before doing it, scrubbing at the booths and then replacing all the food with fresh articles. There was the usual variety and Jared had even managed to get some berries for the cows, a rare delicacy that hey always seemed to enjoy.

The vid was now focusing on Chad and Chris who were busy with the cow’s feed. Chris was stacking up bowls, while Chad was opening the pot with gruel and spreading it out over two steaming hot thermo pots. 

Chad and Chris separated, each went to their side of the stable, putting down bowls and filling them. The cows attacked the bowls as soon as their food was placed in front of them and Jared was happy to see that not one of them was causing trouble. Even the new calves were behaving, he knew it was because he’d made it clear the night before what causing trouble would get them, but still he could appreciate their obedience. 

Jared turned his eyes away from the screen for a second, Jensen seemed lost in his job and Jared scratched behind the cow’s ears, encouraging it to continue. It was trying hard to breathe through its nose and Jared kept up the gentle touch, caressing the boy’s cheek, while his other hand held on to the side of the couch.

In the vid you could now see images of the cows as they were eating. The camera focused on one cow in particular whose lips were covered in gruel, its eyes down to the floor while it tried to pretend not to notice the strangers. The camera then moved on to the cow’s back, its brand and recent whip marks. If Jared well remembered, the cow had gotten in Jared’s way when Jared had been teaching one of the new calves how to please him. 

The little one had been whimpering, refusing to learn how to breathe through its nose while its mouth was occupied, when the older cow had pretended to bump into Jared while getting up to grab some fruit. Acting as if it were an accident, but Jared knew better, he’d seen the blatant look of anger in the alpha’s eyes, lasting just long enough for Jared to spot it, before the cow pulled back and tried to pretend it was just being clumsy. Lying to Jared, it only made things worse.

Jared didn’t need his own cows thinking they needed protection from him, thinking they were the dominant needed to look after the others. But he hated it even more when they lied to him. The cow, Thumper was its stable name, needed to learn a lesson, a lesson it seemed to have forgotten, being the oldest alpha in the stable, that the only one protecting the cows here was him, that the only dominant in the stable was Jared, and it would do well to remember that.

The reporter asked him about the scars and the Jared in the vid explained about the cow’s discipline, and how it was enforced. The camera then turned on to the punishment wall, focusing on the hooks set high along the wall and then moving on to the cupboard as he showed the stable’s collection of whips, canes and other disciplinary tools.

For some reason the camera then moved on to the other cows, showing the various ages from eight to twenty eight, Thumper as the oldest of the set was the last one shown. Sharon then asked Jared how the younger cows were disciplined and Jared calmly said: “The same way. The older cows may get double the amount of strikes, but pain tends to be the best teacher where cows are concerned. It's only a rare few who'll repeat their mistakes when you leave some marks behind to remind them.”

There was something wrong about her reaction, but she quickly collected herself and continued with the tour. He hadn't even noticed it back then, but there was a shifty look in her eyes. Jared wondered what she was thinking.

The cows seemed about ready with breakfast by that point and the camera focused on their faces as they moved to the raster for their daily clean up. Most of them were smart enough to relieve themselves before heading back to their booths while the calves made their way to the food bench. Jared couldn't help a smile as he watched two of the calves carefully grab for a ball, before looking at him for permission. The first calf, a beautiful black Alpha with deep blue eyes, was obviously ready to fall to its knees in a second and the Jared on screen nodded before looking away. The camera caught the calves as they slowly picked up the ball, one throwing it to the other and then sitting down, legs wide open to make it easier to catch the toy  
The two calves started rolling the ball between them, and a third joined them for the game. Chad meanwhile was busy hooking the production shift to the machines while Chris cleaned up the leftovers of breakfast.

One of the cows on duty was Jensen and the vid version of Jared explained to the reporter about Jensen's status as an Omega. He ordered both Jensen and Daisy to come up and had them bend over to move into the milking position to show the difference between the two sets of breeders. Jared went on to give a quick rundown of the different genders found to be amongst Ambrosia Cows and went on about how the Omega would be the mother of the farm’s next generation showing pride in the farm's very own Omega. Not all farms had one, and it was almost a status symbol for the farm in question to be able to show one off. 

The reporter then asked him about Joshua Ackles, which had been annoying, but Jared had expected the question. Hell, Jeff had told him plenty of time that there were several farmers out there willing to pay more than five times the price that even an Omega was worth just to get their hands on Jensen. Jared guessed it was a combination of wanting to rub the cow in Ackles face and show just what they could do to the thing if Ackles didn't back of.

As if they forgot that Jensen wasn’t human anymore. Jared didn't understand how anyone could punish an innocent cow for being previously connected to a bastard like Josh Ackles.  
“Well Ackles is annoying,” the Jared onscreen said, “but three six five has adjusted pretty well. It’s found its place and if Ackles can’t accept that then it’s his problem, not the cow’s.”

But instead of focusing on Jared as he spoke, the cameras moved on to Jensen who'd crawled back into his booth and was currently getting hooked up to the machines. Chad worked efficiently, a quick touch to the cow's balls to set off its arousal before the probe went in.

“So you don’t think the cow would want to go back, if the law ever changed?” The reporter asked while the camera focused on Jensen as he moaned at the first impact of the probe. The cow’s young body tensed up for a second before giving in to the pleasure. The suction tube activated a second later and Jensen lost itself in a moan.

The vid version of Jared laughed at that. “Cows don’t know what they want, they're animals. Their memories remind them of things that are beyond their understanding, but all they really need to be happy is food, shelter and a caring hand. And my cows get all of those in plenty supply.”

The sounds coming through the bit of the cow in the holo made Jared grow hard in real life.

“Get me ready, get it as slick as possible, for both our sakes.” He said and Jensen quickly increased his suckling until Jared pushed him off and ordered the cow to get on his lap. 

The cow’s pussy was wet and Jared pushed his fingers into it, covering them with the animal’s juices before pushing them into its asshole.

It was easy to keep watching the show over the cow’s shoulder as Jensen rode Jared’s dick, Jared closed his eyes for a second, almost missing out on the scene as Sharon got to watch when the light show was turned on for the cows’ benefit. She seemed to like the look of it well enough, but her eyes kept wandering away, looking at the cows, at the vid version of Jensen in particular.

Jared could feel Jensen slow down on his lap and he gave the cow a soft pat on the shoulder to speed it up. He kept quiet as the tour continued, a mention of the time when the cows were released from their shift and a question of how much time most of them spent in production. Jared’s explanation about the system and how it gave them time to recuperate between rounds, how cow’s were naturally more fertile than humans and what that meant for the ambrosia production. The difference between alphas and betas, and why of the two, most farmers would prefer to have alphas. Nothing against betas, it wasn’t their fault after all, but they were only half developed and researchers were still trying to find a way to get them over that final step to being full breeders as well as cows.

Sharon seemed to start blushing a bit when Jared mentioned the Alpha’s knots and how they kept the animals coming for hours on end when needed. Then Jared took her along, first to the shed, which was slowly getting moved over to the nursery and where he explained his usual work with the calves, using one of the newer calves as an example. Making it lie still while he gently placed a testing plug in its anus so it could learn how to hold it in. 

He wished the camera had focused more on what he was actually doing, but he guessed that might have been a bit too much for the families with children watching at home. So instead you got a focus on the look of the calf in question. It’s eyes were wet and tears ran along its cheek. It was softly whimpering, which was to be expected. 

And then they got to the Nursery. The voice over gave facts and numbers, how there were over 80 million Ambrosia cows worldwide, most of them spread across the US, China and India. That the majority of free born cows came from low income family and that up to now, only about twenty percent of them were farmborn. The voice sounded even as it mentioned how the new laws if they came in action were set to change that.

Jared noticed a tear on Sharon’s cheek that she quickly wiped away when the Jared next to her turned her way. He shrugged it off, watching as the vid version of him showed her the separate rooms of the Nursery, ending in the breeding/birthing chamber. 

It was spoken over by the voice as it mentioned all the benefits of Ambrosia and how the Ambrosia industry had changed both the medical industry and the entire country's economy before going back to Jared who had his hand on the breeding bench.

“Well we try and make it clear to the cows that breeding and birthing are connected, so both happen in the same room."he chuckled for a second before throwing her what Jared hoped was an endearing smile rather than a smug look. "It also saves on space.” Vid Jared continued as he showed the currently empty room, breeding bench and gynecology chair both set to the side. “Omegas cycle through their heat about once every three months and we’re currently waiting for our resident Omega to go through its third heat before breeding it. That should let us know just how receptive it is in three months or so.”

“You… plan to breed Jensen, the Omega in three months?” There was a sense of desperation in her tone, more than just the curiosity he'd thought there was when he'd originally heard her ask the question.

“It’s no longer called by that name miss McIntyre. We try not to keep our cow’s human names, it gives them the wrong idea. Currently it’s called Three Six Five, once I’m sure it’s as fertile as we hope I’ll think of giving it a stable name that fits its status."

“Of course.” She said, while eying the bench. He couldn’t see her eyes, hadn’t been able to do so in real life and wasn’t able to do so now. As if she’d deliberately turned away from both him and the audience. “He… it’s eleven right?”

“That’s right," Jared had answered, calm confidence in his tone. "It should be twelve by the time it’s ready to deliver. I’ll probably throw a party once its through. Should be a good way to show off both Omega and calf, the first farm born on the Padalecki homestead in over nine years. I’m quite looking forward to it.”

The reporter didn’t answer, she was still eying the breeding bench. “So whom do you plan to breed him… it with.”

“Probably one of the younger Alphas. Three six five is a bit too small to breed it with one of the full adults for now. I’ve got a few in sight that look like they’d build good bloodlines. Once its had its first calf, we can think about using added fertility drugs to make sure that its next throw results in multiples.”

The rest of the tour was calmer, showing the calves playing outside, their run with Chris, physical exercises with the older alphas, diner in the evening and putting them all to bed.

The voice over a mix of history and simple facts. The camera lingered on the shot of the cows covering under their blankets, going to sleep and on Jared as he closed the door. He hadn’t bothered to let them see the manual milking. It was too easy for the abolitionists to pull it out of context. Sharon thanked him for the tour and left, the cameras on the farm as they did so and then the view went to the studio, at Sharon sitting next to her co-host. The camera then made a full tour around the live audience. There were people crying in their seats. Jared could see the green on some of their faces. A woman cradling her ten year old boy to her chest, as if hiding him from the world. 

“When I headed for the farm that day, I thought I was going to do a fluff piece.” Sharon said in a soft spoken voice. “I fully expected to find that everything the AAM has been saying about the Ambrosia farms was exaggerated. I wasn’t sure what I expected to see, but I knew the farmer in question. I knew he was a kind man. That he was well liked among his friends and peers. That compared to other farmers he was even seen as a bit of a softie who went too easy on his cows. I didn’t… I didn’t expect that.”

She finally got up from her chair, the camera focusing on her as she opened her vest. 

“We gave them every chance to hide, to cover up. This is what they decided to show us, what they were proud to let us know about.” The symbol of the AAM proudly displayed on the shirt underneath. “The AAM is right.” She was fully crying by now. “This must be ended. This travesty, this abuse, of children, of people, it's wrong." The crowd had fallen into a tense silence as if hanging on to wait for her next word. "No more Ambrosia.” 

And then a whisper fell over the audience as many of them fell along with the words, soft at first and then harsher as the chant continued in the crowd, rage and anger in their voices, their eyes. 

Jared pushed Jensen away from him and stared at the vid, furious, how could they? Why didn’t they get it?

But then things finally went quiet and the co-host spoke up. “So let’s introduce our guest to the studio," the doors opened, releasing on Ackles as he came in like the hero in a wrestling match, light shining off his jeans and sweater that made him look like he came straight out of a college newsletter, "the eighteen year old front man of the American Abolition Movement, national spokesman for the voiceless. The young man who's been working tirelessly to bring his brother back home, Mister Joshua Ackles.”

Jared clicked off the vid before he could throw something at it, the last sound he heard was the crowd clapping and cheering for Ackles as he came on.


	12. Chapter 12

When Jared took him up to his quarters, Jensen did his best not to look around too much. Not at the door heading to the large bedroom with the king sized bed, not at the open door next to the living room leading to a rustic old fashioned kitchen. Nor at the desk at the back of the living room or the large leather couch standing in front of a soft plushy carpet and glass and steel encased coffee table. Instead he just kept his head down and knelt down as soon as they reached their destination. Some nights they'd head straight up to the bedroom, and Jensen would spend a few hours on the bed being of use, before getting ordered of the bed and falling asleep on the mat beside the bed.

But at other times, Jared was in a different mood, too much work, too much to do, and he'd have Jensen service him in the office or at the couch. There was a large holo projector on the wall that recreated 3D images in an almost life like surrounding that was hard to ignore even as you had Jared's dick in between your lips. Even as he made you sit on his lap, and rode his dick. At least Chris vid display never seemed to reach for you. Not that Jensen was here to watch the holovision. This wasn't Chris who took you up to his living room so you could relax before heading to bed. He was here solely as a night time treat for Jared. 

He still couldn't help catching glimpses of whatever was on, making him miss the cartoons he used to watch with his sister before he got sold. The sounds were even harder to ignore. Hints of music, of light, sometimes he imagined himself in the little box, along with the families in them, and then he snapped himself out of it before Jared noticed the longing in his eyes.. Watching TV used to be something normal, you woke up in the morning, and turned on a show about alien worlds, or household animals playing catch, from classic to the hip new thing that you needed to have seen in order to fit in at school. Especially in the weekend, when you sat there as quiet as you could, so you didn't bother mom. Jumping along with a guy in a Muppet suit, hugging with a big bird, all those things had been like comfort foods, making you feel warm and at home. 

Watching the images of the farm, comparing them to real life, it broke through that illusion. Holovids were different from the shadows that played on the walls when Jared turned the lightshow on, the holovids held sounds and distance, you couldn't just focus on one spot. There was just too much to see, too much to follow, overwhelmingly so.

It was odd seeing himself and the others, the way Jared had to see them,, unreal almost. He was in shock at the reporter’s ending speech, staring at the glimpse he got from Josh’s face before the holo vid disappeared from their sight and Jensen got pushed away, knocked to the floor. 

Josh looked all grown up, his hair cut short and he was wearing a sweater instead of a shirt with text on it. He almost didn't look like Josh anymore. 

Jensen's arms were bruised, his fingers felt brittle and wasted from landing against the wall. His butt was sore from being pulled off of their owner’s dick too quickly. Feeling that pull was like a burn that never seemed to soothe with time. Jensen's knees were scraped from the way they’d hit the floor when he came down. 

Jared was breathing harshly, if Jensen had the guts to look at him, he'd probably find there was steam coming of the giant's nose. Jensen did the only thing he could do, bending low, grabbing his legs, head to the floor, making himself as small as possible. It was the only way to withstand the storm, but it wouldn't save him from Jared's rage if the man was mad at him for being scared in the first place. Jensen tried to force himself to relax, but he couldn't help it, couldn't not be afraid.

Jared never lay a finger on Jensen, he didn't kick him any further, didn't push him, didn't even come near him. He didn't have to, the longer it took for him to express his rage, the more scared the boy became. After a while Jensen was almost begging for Jared to just do something, to punish him, anything to make the waiting end.

When he felt a hand on his back, it was almost in relief, the beating was going to start, he could relax now because he’d be punished and then it’d be over. But the hand remained gentle.

“It’s alright my little one. You have nothing to be scared of.” Jared's voice was harsh, every word carefully pronounced as if holding back, forcing himself to be kind. Jensen pushed his back up to Jared’s hand and tried to relax under his owner’s touch, Jared didn't want them to be scared, didn't want to know they were scared. “I’m not angry with you. I’m not.” Jared sat with him and cradled Jensen to his chest, Jensen's heartbeat hammered in his chest. “They don’t get it, do they. They just don’t get it. But I won’t let them take you. Not now, not ever. This is your home, for all of you. And I won’t let them ruin that.”

Jensen sat frozen, he wouldn't have tried to pull away even if Jared had let him go. Instead he focused on his breathing, on letting Jared caress him and carry him to the bed. Things were harder now that Jared no longer held back, but with every day, the intrusion of Jared in either of his holes no longer hurt nearly as much as it had done the first time. 

Jared always said the pain wouldn’t last, Jensen could only hope their owner wasn’t wrong. But for now, all he could do was hope for that future day that Jared kept on promising.

Jensen tried to think back at the sight of Josh on the show, at the look on people's faces. They cried, but people cried when Old Yeller died, it didn't have to mean anything. It was probably too much to hope that any of them would really care about anything that happened to a bunch of cows. 

He’d heard the woman say something about a new law when she was visiting the stable and it was watching the show that made him understand what she’d been talking about. No more new cows, no more children sold.

Jensen wasn’t sure how he felt about it. He lay on his stomach, sinking down into the sheets while Jared fucked him. One part of his mind was stuck on sensing every fiber of the sheets, feeling the silk under his wrists as he tried to understand why he wasn’t jealous. All those kids who would never have to live like they did. He should be jealous that they got to be free and he wasn’t. But all he could think of was relief, happy that they’d be spared this, all of this. 

Did it mean that Mac was safe? That Josh could never be sold? But Josh had looked so much older on the vid. Jensen tried to count Josh’s age, it was so hard to remember counting. One two three, up to ten, up to twenty, forty five cows in the stable. The presenter had said Josh was eighteen, an adult, he could never be sold now, his own possession, a success to their parents, unlike Jensen. But Josh had stood there, for them, for the cows. 

Was that pride what he felt? Jensen wasn’t sure, pride was a rare emotion to be felt in the farm. Jared felt it, you could see it when he found out that Jensen was an Omega. But for the cows, it was beyond them. You didn't feel pride when you got above a certain quota of milk. You didn't feel pride when you didn't get whipped, or when Jared chose you for the night. Those things were thought of with terror. 

Pride... pride was when you figured out the language, when you realized that you were able to be there for the others. When you helped Daisy with his letters and made sure to erase them before Chad found out. Pride was hidden. 

Jensen felt proud now, he covered it up as always.

Jared pushed himself fully into Jensen’s ass and Jensen couldn’t help a scream, pulled back to reality and out of his thoughts. It was easier though, thinking, wondering, letting his mind skip away while Jared took his body. He wasn’t his body and his body wasn’t him. When he came it was his body that responded, not him. He couldn’t trust Jared enough to let it be him that answered to the man’s touches, the man’s strokes. 

Jared never even noticed that the real Jensen was gone.

The woman had asked Jared if the cows would have wanted to be free if they had the choice. And hell, yes, he wanted to be gone from here, he wanted to stop being scared. He wanted to eat something that didn’t have the stingy taste of Nectar in it. He didn’t want to have to come up here and let Jared do whatever he wanted to him. And he wanted to just… To be Jensen.

But who was that? The little boy that wanted to be a cowboy when he grew up? That played dress up with his grandparents old clothes and looked up to his father as if he'd hung the stars in the sky? 

Was that Jensen gone? He didn't even know what if anything, was left of that boy. 

Jensen now was nothing, property, Omega, priced possession and cow to be milked.

What did he know of being free? He hadn’t been to school in three years, all he knew was how to lay down and take it. And he didn’t think you could make a living that way anywhere other than on the farms. Not that he wanted to. 

He was stupid and a failure, a stupid cow, meant for nothing but milking and breeding, wasn’t that what Jared had made clear over and over again?

Jensen wanted to believe he was wrong, that if he got out of here, he could go back home and be like he was before. But he didn’t think he could. 

He barely noticed Jared’s hands on his body, as the gigantic man sat over him and milked him, less harshly so than when the machine did it. Rubbing that place in Jensen’s hole over and over again, until Jensen had given everything there was to give before demanding more. 

After it was over, Jensen expected Jared to order him to the mat beside the bed, where he’d wait, and twitch, be expected to sleep till Chad came to pick him up for cleaning and breakfast as dawn broke. But the order never came. 

Jared pulled him closer in his grip, one leg over Jensen’s smaller ones, nearly smothering him in the man’s embrace. It felt like being a big baby’s teddy bear, the way Icarus used to hang on to his toys before he finally bit their heads off.

Jensen tried to stay out of it, to just slip away again, but then he felt Jared’s disappointed tears on his back, the man’s wounded pride, the way he kept muttering that nobody understood. Acting like a kid who didn't get why daddy would ground him for breaking a window. 

It hurt seeing the big strong man like that, it scared him, made him worry what would happen if the man stayed like this. So Jensen did the only thing he could do, he leaned into the man’s embrace and let himself get hugged, letting out a sound that came closer to purring than anything else, like Thumper had done for him once. It felt odd coming out of his throat, like a sound he shouldn't be able to make.

It seemed to take hours before Jared fell asleep, but when Jensen looked out the window, the moon was still in the sky, it took a bit longer for Jensen to find the dark, but in the end, even he let go and got lost in its embrace. 

 

 

*******

 

There were protesters literally camped at the gates of the farm. Set up with sewed up tents and barely regulatory campfires, dogs barking all day and night as they played at their owner's feet. Careful of course to stay off the roads and just enough away from Jared's grounds that he couldn't have them booted out for trespassing. But there, the entire time. 

Jared had tried to go and talk to him, but even just the sight of them started them up in chants or booing. And no matter how much Jared wished otherwise, according to the letter of the law, they still had freedom of speech.. So far the guards had managed to keep them from getting past the walls, not that they’d admit they were trying, but the guards kept hearing their noise in the night and you could see men and women pacing around the fences at all times of day.

It was like a traveler's camp, or the surroundings of a music festival, if it weren't for the lack of children. Those of course their parents would allow no where near Jared or his place. 

Jared had called the police the first day. The chief had sent someone then, but all the patrol car had done, was make it clear that as long as the neighbors didn’t complain, those people had every right to be in the area. When the occupation lasted, Jared had tried again, but for some reason the chief of police was either gone all day, or refused to take his calls. This had lasted for over a week before Jared had had no choice but to give up and accept that the the mob was there to stay.

The chief’s secretary seemed to be doing everything in her power to come up with reasons why they couldn’t send a squad car or two to keep an eye on the siege outside. As if they were busy, and yes, the other farms in the county were swamped with protesters as well, but noner of them had it as bad as the Padalecki homestead. One of the other farms in the road had a clear sign in the yard stating: "Dairy farm, no Ambrosia" . They even went as far as offering free milk to any of the protesters at Jared's place.

So far Jared's guards had managed to keep them out of sight of the cows, which got harder to do every day since they had already lost three of his nine guards since the siege had began. They all claimed their reasons, their excuses, but Jared knew they just wanted to be as far gone from the farms as possible. None of them had even asked him if they could put him up as a reference for the future. 

Jared hated it, but he had no choice but to keep the cows inside, shutting down half of production. It was the only way to keep the noise from disturbing the livestock. Even now they kept waking up at the sound of singing and worse barking that came from outside. Disturbing them and souring the milk in the mornings before he got them calmed down, hoping to keep the worst from their awareness. As if keeping them locked up all day wouldn’t cause troubles of its own. But part of his responsibility was to protect his cows from the darker sides of the world and keeping them from the stares and anger of the crowd was part of that.

Worst of all was seeing all those familiar faces, glaring at him with disgust. Several of them were direct neighbors, moving in between their own homes and the camp before his gates. Hell, he’d seen local stores bringing them food and beverages for free, stores that once benefited from his patronage. As if they had to make up for ever knowing him. He couldn’t understand what he’d done to deserve this. But every time he got near the edges of the camp, the resulting chaos turned his stomach, once they’d even thrown rotten eggs and vegetables his way. Not that you could ever find the ones actually throwing them, the way they slipped back into the crowd the moment he started searching for them. 

And then there was the music, the constant harassment of old protest songs and Doria's melodies ringing through the air, that never seemed to cease whenever they caught sight of him or one of his men. He couldn't blame his men for quitting, who wouldn't when they had to deal with all that crap, day in day out. 

Jared drove his car through the gates, all the farm's cars were now parked inside the gates to keep them from getting covered in graffiti and egg shells. The guards stood ready to shoot at anyone that dared to try and cross the grounds. Jared had had no choice but to hand them real guns. Actual guns that could kill people. Just the idea of it abhorred him. What if something happened? What if they grabbed the wrong weapons when dealing with scared cows. Normally they were armed with long range tazers and sedatives, just enough to bring the cows down with little to no permanent harm, but now… Jared prayed that the guns noise alone would be enough to keep their invaders at bay.

The final nail had been the call he'd received within days of the show's first airing. The reverend, calling him to ask not to come to the neighborhood picnic that weekend or any weekend. He’d been a part of this community since he was four years old, had done everything he could to help his friends and neighbors, and suddenly, they all turned against him as if he were some kind of monster. The beast, trapped in his own castle. 

When he got to town, he parked the car and headed up to the supply store, moving past the boarded up building that had once housed the Agency. Closed now, like all of them were. Once the law passed in Texas, all other states had soon followed suit. Farms in the rest of the country had barely even gotten two weeks warning, before their supply of new cows ran dry.

Not that all that many people had been willing to sell their children once the show aired. The stigma had become too great. Who after all wanted to be known as the parent who sold their kid to be fed to the dragons. Jared could only pity the few cows who came in filled with fear far exaggerated instead of the normal respect they should be feeling for their new owners.

He'd seen the scarring on some of those last minute cows, how many of them were underfed, covered in burns from who knows what. They made even some of the harshest cow's owners treatments of their animals look like a gentle touch in comparison. Several of them actually flourished as soon as they entered the farms, to a point that even scum the likes of Ackles would have to agree that they were better off with their new owners than they'd been with their former parents.

Even now mere months after the new laws had come in action, the entire view of the city had changed. It's like kids were looming everywhere, lingering on the streets, at first hesitant, but then more and more taking over the town as if it was theirs. 

Little boys and girls playing catch in the park, teenagers hanging around diners and movie theaters without anyone there to watch over them. Jared had no idea where they all came from. He'd known there were many hundreds of children at the schools, but he'd never seen so many gather together in public as he did now.

And then there was the way they watched him, the glares aiming at him like through a rifles scope, as if they'd put him on fire if they could. The second he came within sight of families with children, they grabbed their kids close to them, as if he would steal them the second they turned their backs. In the store, even the shelve stockers gave him the evil eye and treated him as if he were something filthy to be wiped from the soles of their feet. Where was the days when their managers would fire them for even risking the chance of him picking another store to give his money to?

He filled his cart with fresh vegetables and fruit for the cows, he'd already been by the butcher, picking up his usual supply of second grade meat. The meat he ended up with didn't look like what he usually got, instead it had looked as if the man had taken prime beef in the wrong containers. Long as the meat was good, Jared didn't really care. 

All along the way people kept staring at him. Hating him. And for what? For doing his job? For doing a job that somebody had to do?

How did they think cows could be treated? Yes most of the Ambrosia cows had been born human, once upon a time. But that stopped being the case as soon as they were tagged, as soon as they were sold really. And he’d seen personally what happened if you went too soft on them. When you made the mistake of treating them as the human beings they no longer were. 

Humanizing the cows was a trap, one that any farmer with half a brain, couldn't risk falling into. 

Seeing those babies, sweet innocent calves that never got a chance to live and why? He still didn’t understand why they’d killed their own young. Why they’d hated him when all he’d tried to do was look after them? Their very nature, their instincts, all that made them Ambrosia cows, led them to violence. He'd seen the way they treated one another without him to watch over them. They needed control, they needed guidance, for their own safety as well as that of those around them. He’d made that mistake once, of ignoring their true nature, but never again.

It was these people who now hated him, who were the ones who had wanted Ambrosia, who had yelled out in demand of it, asking more and more and expecting farmers like him to supply it at ever lower prices. And now they had the guts to judge him for the way it was produced. He just couldn’t understand what people thought happened to the children they sold. How they could have thought that those cows would be treated any better than he already did? He'd heard someone mention that they'd expected the kids to be housed in dormitories, be given books to read or things to play with. 

It made him wonder if they'd ever even looked at the farms, and wondered where in gods name people would have had space to put any of those things. 

The show had been on over two months ago, but instead of improving, things only got worse by the day. When he'd tried to get a new whip, when the old one was ready to be replaced, the store owner had suddenly told him they were out of stock, every last variety of them. When he asked when new ones were coming in, they flat out told him they'd stopped stocking them.

In the end, Jared had had no choice but to buy his new tools online, without even being able to inspect them before purchase. 

The announcement boards at the entry of the store were covered in posters, as if just one hadn't been enough, something about a march on Washington next week. Posters like it had been around for the past month. Even the net was filled with advertising about the damn march, he couldn’t avoid them, no matter how far he ran, or clicked to get away from them.

A series of speeches at the Washington Mall, rumors were that over a million people were heading over there to listen to Joshua Ackles speak. It seemed preposterous. But Jared couldn’t ignore it, when he saw an add about how the local school planned to have a live viewing of the speech in the high school auditorium or when the news kept talking about the holo projectors put up at schools and community halls all over the country. 

He could hear people, who only a year ago, would have talked shit about Ackles as a hooligan, a pest. Men and women who’d have called him a blight and insult to his parents’ sacrifice, who now called him a local hero and a treasure to the community. Teenagers who before would have called anyone stupid enough to join the AAM a self righteous twit, now wore t-shirts bearing Ackles face or slogans.

Even pictures of Jensen's face could be found wherever he went. Many of them comparing a picture of the Omega as he'd been before he was sold, and the way he'd looked in the show. Images with clocks reaching midnight, giving warnings that time was running out. Jared had no idea what they thought would happen to Jensen. 

Ackles had become a folk hero and most people never even realized that that was all he was, a figure head for a bunch of people too scared to show their own faces. An empty name meant to call on emotions, rather than reason. 

Jared grabbed a newspaper from the stand, and gave it a quick look. They were still talking about the factory fire over in Houston. Over six hundred cows, twenty broodmares, and seven humans dead before the fire brigade even got near. The police had found that the cows had died, or been dying, hours before the fire had been lit. They’d been poisoned by their own caretakers, who mixed chocolate in with the cow’s feed. The animals never knew what hit them. The girls, most of them, had been locked in their dormitaries, unable to leave, unable to call for help.

It must have taken hours for the animals to die, Jared couldn’t help but cringe at the thought, just a few grams of chocolate was enough to cause stomach cramps and make a cow sick for days, the quantities used, the cows would have fallen sick right away, suffering in agony, but surviving just long enough that if a vet had been called in, they still could have been saved. 

Their caretakers instead has chosen to work along with their boss, ignoring their animals' suffering, while they spread gasoline along the stables, in many cases pouring it over the cows dying bodies. The owner and CEO of the company had then rewarded their loyalty with bullets instead of the retirement bonus he'd promised them, before he'd set the place on fire. 

Many of the cows must have still been alive at that point, burning to death in the flames or suffocating in the smoke, their fate too horrifying to imagine. Jared didn't even want to think of what the broodmares had been feeling once they realized there was no way out when the fire started, only three of them had made it out alive, most of them died of smoke inhalation.

The investigators found a letter in which the CEO stated that he wouldn’t see his company go down and his family go bankrupt. The man himself was found dead in his own kitchen, surrounded by the bodies of his wife, his grown children, and their own offspring. Many of them had tried to run or cover their loved ones, but they'd been as doomed as the livestock that the man had wanted to get rid of. 

The paramedics had been dragging bodies out of the factory for days. Normally the cows’ bodies would have gone to the incinerator as soon as the investigation was over. But the AAM was interfering, demanding a proper burial of the dead. 

Who’d ever heard of a funeral for animals?

There was a note of the same happening at farms across the country, not to the degree of cruelty in Houston, but that reaction of farmers wanting to free their cows of the burden society wanted to place on their backs. And killing themselves before the world took away everything that mattered. Better to kill your animals than to abandon them after you killed yourself, but since most of those were smaller family farms, they hadn’t gotten as much attention as the situation at the factory did. 

Two of the girls at the register suddenly decided it was time for their break when they saw Jared come near. A third looked about ready to bolt as well, but since she was still dealing with a customer, she had no chance to run. And no matter how bad people might think of him, even they knew better than to put up a register closed sign right before he paid up. 

None of the baggers offered their services to help him pack up and he had to get all of it into the car on his own. Only a few months ago, they'd have been crawling over one another for the chance to serve him and the generous tips he tended to hand out.

The mob at the gates seemed if possible even angrier when he returned, he guessed they'd heard the news. 

There was a cop car waiting for him when he got out of his car. The chief of police himself. Somehow Jared didn’t think the man was here to apologize.


	13. Chapter 13

Locked up in the stable all day, it felt like the walls were climbing up on them. As if the air was slowly sucked out of the room and they had to struggle just to breathe. They hadn’t been allowed out in ages. Even their daily runs had been replaced by indoor exercises. As a result, everyone was getting on everyone else’s nerves. Jokes had become pranks; getting in someone's way was enough to earn you a growl and if Chad and Chris didn't step in at the least sign that something was up there would have been at least one fight since the lock up began. 

Jensen had to take a sip from his water bottle, barely able to reach for it as the probe in his ass made him feel like he was going insane. Only a few months ago, he wouldn't even have been able to do that much while being milked. It was odd how soon you adapted to something as alien as having a constantly vibrating sound rubbing up against the insides of you.

Now, it wasn't like you could ignore it, his body kept going with spurts of 'oh god that's good' to 'oh my God, please make it stop, no don't, stop, oh God' to moments where it got into a rhythm, like now, when you could almost, almost focus on something other than the way the tube rubbed against your dick, pulling at it as if trying to drag the flesh itself along with the white milk pulled out of him. 

This morning, Daisy had decided to invent a new game. He’d somehow found a feather. It wasn't big, but it was gray and fluffy and it was the worst torture tool Jensen had ever seen. Jensen had no idea where the other cow got it from, since none of them had been allowed outside, and it didn't look trampled enough to have been stuck on someone's boot. Yet there it’d been. And then of course Daisy decided that the best thing to do with the feather was to start tickling the feet of the ones in production, or more specifically of Jensen. 

When Chad finally released him after that shift, Jensen had gone after Daisy, jumping on his legs. Chad and Chris had interfered, Jensen had ended up chained to the wall for a bit while Daisy sat smiling in his booth. Probably glad that tied up as he was, Jensen hadn't stood a chance to get rid of the feather somehow. 

It was the first time in Jensen’s life that he’d actually come laughing. So far Chris hadn’t taken the feather away from Daisy, even though he had to have seen it. Jensen had tried to glare at his fellow cow, still wishing he could kick Daisy's ass, empty his water bottle over his head or ... or do something bad to him, maybe make him feel what that feather felt like. But Chris hadn't let Jensen do that either. When Jensen was freed from the wall for his shift, he thanked Chad appropriately before he headed back to his booth with one last glare aimed at Daisy. The feather hadn't come near Jensen after that, but the others hadn't been so lucky. Jensen could only grin at their discomfort, and what it would mean for Daisy when they got off duty. Jensen hoped for Daisy's sake, that he'd have thought of somewhere to run.

The new kids had been moved into the stable over a month ago, once the new booths were set up. It meant even less space for the calves to run, which made things even worse for the rest of them. 

Luckily Chris had come in earlier to take them all to the nursery after they'd eaten. At least there they could work out their energy, and hopefully exhaust themselves before they drove the rest of the cows insane. They wouldn't be back until it was time for diner after the shifts were over. 

The oldest of the newcomers, the one that had his tongue cut out, had been put in production two days ago. The boy had taken to it as well as could be expected, which well wasn’t well at all. For some reason he seemed to be eager to make things even harder on himself than they already had to be. The only time he ever seemed to smile, was when the door opened long enough for the sound of singing to reach them from outside. Audible enough to hear the words that were sung.

Jensen didn’t recognize the songs, they weren’t any that Jared had ever put on for them in the stable. But they held big words like freedom and liberty, and the tunes sounded like marching songs, urging you on to move. Jensen tried to stop thinking, to just lose himself in the sensations, but he had long since realized that the longer he was put in the machines, the more his mind started to wander away from what was happening to his body. As if there was a growing disconnect between the two. 

He desperately tried to twitch away when the probe hit something that made him see stars. It was almost enough to keep him from hearing Chris and Chad as they walked along the rows. 

“Look you can see that all the cows are healthy, well fed and taken care of." Chad, who seemed to be more annoyed than anything else. "You can check the stacks, there’s no chocolate anywhere on the premises."

“Well, that’s wrong, my wife’s got some in our pantry.” That was Chris. “But neither of us would make the mistake of letting it come near any of the cows.“ Jensen could hear the unspoken ‘ever again’. 

So they were talking to someone else?

“Mister Kane, this might seem like a joke to you.” There was no hint of humor in the stranger’s voice. “But at this point in time, I’d suggest getting rid of even your personal stash." Chris didn’t answer. "Leaving any chocolate anywhere on an Ambrosia farm could be seen as if you're planning to copy Houston.” Jensen had no idea what chocolate had to do with Houston, he just mourned the lost taste of what used to be his favorite treat and a true sign that God hated every last cow in existence.

“Jesus, it’s just two chocolate bars.” Chris muttered, before gasping and continuing. “I’ll be sure to get rid of it as soon as I get home.”  
Jensen had a guess that the chocolate would soon be gone from the world, but the very thought of it reminded him of how much his last taste of it had hurt.

Chad seemed to be chuckling in the background, something that stranger didn’t seem to appreciate if the way he scoffed at it was any proof.  
“The Padalecki farm is center ground to enough bad publicity right now. The last thing, the very last thing you need at this point is to have anyone think you’re planning to get rid of your cows, especially with the Ackles boy on the premises.”

It took Jensen a moment to realize that they were talking about him. The name was a long gone memory, more connected with Josh now, than it was with himself. Jensen tried to duck down, not to be noticed, but it only sank him deeper on the probe. He had to open his mouth as far as the bit would let him and groan under its ongoing vibration, vibe, vibration, it was one of the words that Jared liked to use, big words, Jensen loved big words. 

"Oh come on Thompson, you know Jared, he’s had dozens of offers to buy the cow from him, but he won’t take any of them. Too proud, damn idiot won’t even admit there’s a connection between the cow and the damn abolitionist. Keeps insisting that that link was gone when the cow was tagged. I’ve never seen a farmer who works so hard on making himself see his cows as animals."

“Yeah right.” Chris said, “Doesn’t seem to be any work involved in it.” Chris sounded almost angry.

“That’s cause you barely even know the guy, Kane. Jared… he never even lets himself think of them as males, every time he looks at those cows, he knowingly makes himself think: ‘they’re animals’, won't even grant them a gender, as if there's any doubt on them being male to begin with. Well, except for this one." Chad bent down next to Jensen, and Jensen wished he could pull away from the man’s touch. 

“Most farmers,” Chad continued. “they don’t ever see the cows as anything close to human. It goes without thinking, the way you’re with your dogs. They don’t need to beat it into their cows, because they’re so sure of it, that the cows have no choice but to accept it. They don’t talk to their cows, why bother, they’re animals, they won’t understand it anyway. But with Jared, it’s like he has to wake up and think “they’re no more than stupid beasts” before he goes on, like he has to convince the cows of what they are, because it’s the only way he can convince himself of the same thing. “

“Then why, if he doesn’t believe it…?”

“Because he has to, because it’s what his daddy wanted him to believe. Because to Jared his father was God, and his word was law. And if his father was wrong, then everything that Jared has built himself on is wrong as well.“

Chad tugged on Jensen’s suction tube, stroking past Jensen’s balls, making Jensen release another stronger spurt.

“I got Jared drunk once, drunk enough to start talking about the old man. Did you know that Jared was one of ten brothers. Old man Padalecki would head to the foster center on a regular basis, he’d make them show off their brats as if they were the latest toys in stock. Jared was five when Padalecki got him. His parents died in a car crash, or so Jared says, I looked it up, couldn't find proof of any crash anywhere in the area at the right time. The kid got dropped off, name unknown, no relatives showed up, and none of their friends came to claim the kid." 

Chad stopped for a moment, to tickle the spot right behind Jensen's balls.  
"Jared was about to be sold to the factories. They like to get them young enough to teach them to sit still. It's why they got the girls, to get the kids before they can even walk. If they breed them themselves, they can cut their tendons and keep them from ever learning to get up to their feet."

Jensen froze, trying to imagine it. He'd heard about the factories, but... this sounded worse than anything he'd ever imagined, and for the first time since long he was almost grateful for the way Jared treated them.

"Padalecki came in just in time, he had two of his older boys with him that day. Both of those ended up in the stables sooner or later. They're probably both dead by now, cows don't last that long, especially when they go into the stables too late."  
Chad's touch stopped for a moment.  
"Padalecki made the kids do tricks, recite poetry, dance, show there was something ‘special’ enough about them to make them worth his while. Like a talent pageant where the prize was not to get sold. Don’t know what he saw in Jared, Jared won’t talk about it, just says his father picked him out of a dozen other kids, many of them older than Jared himself. Jared wasn’t even in the right age group that Padalecki preferred. " Chad looked down for a second, his face a mixture of a smirk and pity. "But he picked him anyway."

Jensen tried to imagine the giant that owned them as a child, it seemed impossible. 

"And then he left him alone in the mansion, with no one to look after him but his brothers and the housekeeper who didn’t really gave a damn about any of them. I heard one of the older guards talk about her once, the way she used to love to remind the boys how little it would take for them to be sent to the stables. Said she wanted to kick the arrogance out of them. She was one of the only people that Jared fired as soon as he inherited the place."

Chad grew silent and all Jensen heard was the sound of scratching.

"It was one of Jared's brothers that taught him how to survive in the house, how to not get in the way of their father, how to stay out of the kitchen and hide from the housekeeper. Jared never got his father’s attention, he was like a ghost in that house, my guess is that Padalecki didn’t even know why he picked Jared, and that he was just waiting for the kid to turn eight so he could get him tagged and sold."

"Then one day, Jared walked into his father’s office when he was teaching one of the older boys what it meant to be daddy’s boy. And instead of walking on, Jared stayed and watched. At first Padalecki meant to mock him over it, asked him if he wanted to be daddy's little apprentice, but to Jared it sounded like the first time his father actually noticed him. Soon his father made him watch while his father disciplined the others, started teaching Jared everything he knew, both with Jared himself and his brothers as a canvas to show off on."  
Jensen flinched as Chad's finger nail scratched over vulnerable skin. 

"It’s all Jared knows. Some part of him resented it, but for the rest of him, it’s all daddy wanted him for, to make him his perfect copy. That anyone who wasn’t, was a failure and needed to go, wasn’t worthy."

There was a sound of footsteps, marching away of them for a moment, then careful steps as if measuring the space between two places, probably the hallway. Staying near, as if whomever was walking didn't want to miss a word.

"Only one of Jared’s brothers managed to get to eighteen without getting sold. The kid lasted just long enough until a day after his eighteenth birthday. He got lucky, if he’d gone off just a day sooner it would have been the mines for him for sure."

"What did he do?"Not Chris, the stranger, his voice sounded a bit more distant than before. Jensen wished he could have at least seen the man's feet. You could learn a lot about a person by the shoes they wore. 

"The kid stepped in while Padalecki was training Jared how to suck cock. The boy tried to speak up for Jared and the other kids, tried to stop their father. The man disowned him on the spot. Beat the crap out of him, had his own son thrown on the street with nothing to him, not even his name. One of the guards had to call an ambulance, or he would have died right there in front of the gates. Last I heard, Jeff’s an artist over in San Francisco these days. Jared and him don’t talk." The sound of one of the locked cabinets getting opened somewhere in the back. "All it did was teach Jared that daddy was right and that if you went in against daddy, then you were out, no matter how old you got. And Jared won’t ever let that happen.”

“So what?”

“When a man genuinely believes that the cows are animals, then all you really need is to show them proof they aren’t, and they’ll change their mind. But when a man already knows they’re wrong, and they’re still forcing themselves to believe said lie as a truth, then no matter how much evidence you throw at them, they’ll stick to it, because by then, their whole self depends on that lie."

Jensen tried to stay still under Chad’s touches on his brand, sucking the man’s fingers when they were put in front of his lips. Trying not to think of the words as they flowed over him. 

“Jared needs to be like his father, needs to be his daddy’s little copy, because it’s the only way his Dad ever loved him. And if Old Man Padalecki didn’t love him, then Jared was nothing, nothing more than garbage that was kept around because someone forgot to throw it out.”

“He’s not a kid anymore.”

“Chris, in that giant head of his, no matter how old he’ll get, he’ll always be that kid that was about to be sold to the factories and had to earn his daddy’s favor. It’s all he’ll ever be.”

The stranger seemed ready with whatever he was doing while Chad messed with Jensen. All Jensen had caught from it all, was the scratching of a pen on paper. 

“He’d better get over it Murray, because if Ackles keeps going as he has, it won’t be long before he’ll get at least visitation rights with the cow.”

“You’re kidding me, you think it will go that far?”

“Kidding? Murray, the way it’s going, Ambrosia is about to head the way of tobacco within five years. The best thing you can do is coddle those animals as much as possible, so that by the time the law forces you to let them run free, they won’t hate you too much. It might be the only way to keep your own asses out of jail once it’s done."

Jensen sat frozen, shaking, all at once, it had to be a dream, because the idea of it was too crazy otherwise.

“Oh come on, the entire country depends on Ambrosia, they’d never be that stupid.” And Jensen couldn't help but agree with Chad, that's how it had always been, wasn't it? Chris stayed silent, the lack of words speaking volumes.

“Take my word for it Murray, five years and that… is a very very generous estimate.”

Jensen shivered, trying not to think, his mind connecting to his body for the first time in weeks as his hormones matched with the thought. Hope, maybe?

 

 

*****

 

 

Jared wasn’t about to tell the Chief Roche to get the hell out of his farm, but he was sure as hell thinking about it. Roche was smirking at him, treating all this as a joke, while popping a pep tablet. One milligram of ambrosia, the rest of it sugar. Roch acted as if his arrival was the best thing to happen to Jared all month, as if he should be grateful that Roche was going out of his way for Jared's sake. Said seeing him here, should calm down the AAM’s groupies from demanding a more thorough search later on. And if he’d said it any less scornful, Jared might have even have believed him. 

But Jared kept his mouth shut, pretended to be happy that Roche had the great kindness to finally show his face around. Asked when Roche was going to send protection against the mob, as if he actually believed that Roche would do a damn thing to help. But Roche was a political bastard, he wanted to go far, and right now it seemed, that the best way to do that was to drop his former friends like a hot potato. 

Roche's loyalty was easily bought, but lost even faster, all it took was some public signs that things might not go your way and wham... Jared was sure the man would end up regretting it. But he wasn't going to let Roche know that either. 

So Jared let the man wander around, let him ogle the cows, in a pretense of interest in their wellbeing. He watched the way the chief went through the food storage, even let him take some of the whips, the larger ones, claiming they were 'overly cruel'. It made Jared wonder how much the man thought he'd get for them when he sold them, no matter that Roche said it was just him doing his job, trying to keep the cows from being 'mistreated'. Something which would have gravely surprised Jared, since the man had never even once given a damn about however Jared or any farmers in the area decided to discipline their animals. This was far from the first time the man had been at the farm, hell, he'd once stood by and watched when Abel had to put down a small attempt at rebellion a few years ago. Had watched as Abel kept the taser on one of his cows until it was a drooling mess on the floor and Jared had felt no choice but to step in and grab the taser out of the man's hands, telling him he was going too far.There hadn't been a hint of concern in the chief's eyes even then. 

Abel had been pissed off with Jared, for interfering with his sense of discipline. Had grabbed a gun and put the cow out of its misery right then and there, wasted a perfectly fine Alpha, just to make a point. Just because Jared had offered to buy the animal to get it away from Abel. And still the Chief had just stood there and let it happen. Barely wiping of the blood and dirt from his booths as they left the paddock.

Jared wondered how much Roche would ask in a bribe to keep from making trouble. Oh, he wouldn't call it that, never that. Hell, last year the Chief had asked Jared for a specific cow’s ambrosia when Jared had offered him a bottle of his finest for Christmas. Jared wondered how long he’d been staring at the cow in question, to remember its number. Roch had never been affronted by Jared’s husbandry style back then, said that all he wanted was a small bit of appreciation for his 'unwavering friendship to the farming community'. 

Roche offered to move Jensen out, said that with all the trouble Ackles was causing, removing Jensen might take some of the heat off of Jared. It wouldn't take him long to start an auction, see who'd pay most to get their hands on the cow that drove Ackles' insanity. 

Jared told Roche to leave. He’d made a promise, he wasn’t letting anyone take Jensen away from him. Jensen was his, Jensen and all the others and he didn’t care what anyone else thought. He made a promise to his father, and he’d already failed his father once. He wasn’t going to fail him a second time. 

Gerald Padalecki had asked one thing of him when he made Jared his heir, to keep up the farm, to look after the family business. To be successful and to one day pass the farm on to a child of his own so the Padalecki line would be continued. 

It wasn't much to ask in exchange for all he'd done for Jared, for all the opportunities he'd given him and yet Jared had managed to disappointed those expectations over and over again. Until he found Jensen.

Jensen was that promise coming to life, that chance to do better, just this once, to make up for all the damage he'd done to his father's legacy, that he was still trying to make up for. All Jared had to do was wait, just one more month and Jensen would go in heat. One more month, and he could feel the cow’s body swell up after being bred. One month and the future of the farm would be set for another generation. And maybe then, maybe, he could feel worthy enough of his father's legacy to get a son of his own, that could continue on the family business. 

People would come to their senses, they weren’t stupid enough to keep buying the AAM’s crap. Soon all of it would blow over and things would go back to normal. And if they didn’t… there were other places in the world that would welcome him, places where he could take his cows so they’d be safe. 

The farm had never been about this specific piece of land, no matter how attached Jared might feel to it. The farm was about the legacy, about keeping up the Padalecki name. And he could take that legacy up to Europe or Africa if he had to. He just preferred not to have to do so. 

Jared had stared after Roche's car as it left, taking the Animal Protection guy with him when he did so. He had instantly forgotten all about the empty promises that Roche had made, knowing all too well how little hope he should put on those.

It was hard to go back to everyday routine after the man left. Milking the cows, feeding them, he put a tranquilizer in most of their food and hesitated for a moment, before telling Chad to give Jensen and Daisy some clean food for that night. 

He needed to feel Jensen under him, needed to know that the young Omega was real, that the promise he'd come to mean was real. That there was hope, and that he wasn't just imagining it. 

And Daisy... Jensen's first time breeding with another Alpha needed to be soothing, it needed to be something that wouldn't scare the little Breeder. It needed to be perfect. Daisy was one of the gentlest alphas he had, only slightly older than Jensen, he'd be perfect. 

It wouldn't be a bad idea to let the cows practice, let them know what was expected of them, since it was all new to both of them? Give them some more time together before the big day.

The rest of the cows looked dazed when he left with Jensen and Daisy right behind him. Jensen seemed to be confused. the Omega was too young to remember any other time when Jared had felt like milking two cows at once. Even more so to remember the last time Jared had been in the mood to share with guests. Jeff didn't count, Jeff hadn't allowed Jared to be there that day. Hell, Jared still regretted that day. 

The two cows' hands kept touching, briefly, as if they wanted to hold on, but didn't dare. Jared smiled back at them, at Jensen in particular, before he led the way up the stairs and held the door open. Letting the two cows walk in before closing it. 

Normally whichever cow was chosen to follow him in, would know by now to get on the bed and kneel there. But now, both of them seemed hesitant, unsure of what was expected from them. After a few moments of that, it was Daisy who got on the bed first, followed seconds later by Jensen. Both kept eying him for orders, but he didn't say a word. He removed the bits from their mouths before settling down to watch.  
Jared sat back, legs wide open, resting his back against the pillow, while the two cows knelt before him on the bed. Both of them out of sorts, fumbling without guidance to tell them what to do. He licked his lips, ordering Daisy to kiss Jensen. Annoyed when all Daisy did was give Jensen a quick peck on the cheek. 

"Kiss the Omega as if you mean it." He finally ordered the Alpha. "As if his lips are ambrosia and you want to suck every last part of out of his mouth." It was a well hidden secret amongst farmers that it wasn't just sperm that held the effects of Ambrosia. Ambrosia cows were catalysts. Every part of their body fluid was filled with the substance. Sweat, drool, even their waste fluids held tinges of Ambrosia in it. Sperm was just the easiest form to receive, the easiest to cleanse and the least harsh on the cows to harvest. 

It's part of what made kissing an Ambrosia cow such an experience. It wasn't just that you could lay touch on a pliant young body that would follow your every order and could be trained to take its master in every way you chose. It's that the very act of kissing a cow was an act of sharing ambrosia. And to see two Ambrosia cows share with one another was the more beautiful for it, because it would arouse the both of them. 

"Make your brother ready." He told Jensen who didn't understand, until Jared said it outright. "Suck its dick, until it's hard."

Jensen looked at Daisy, its eyes shimmered up before it bent down and got started on Daisy's small dick. The alpha kept its hands behind its back, as if fighting the urge to grab the Omega's head and pull it closer. 

It took just long enough for Jared to be ready to lose patience, when Jensen finally let Daisy's cock slip out of its lips. Jared threw Jensen the cock ring and watched as the Omega pulled it over Daisy's dick. Jared sat up, looming over the two. Tonight he’d let Daisy know what Jensen’s ass was like, tomorrow…

He made Jensen lie, knees bent, belly down and its ass high up in the air. It was annoying how much guidance Daisy needed, as if touching Jensen was abhorrent and tempting to it all at the same time. 

Yet he obeyed, pushing itself into Jensen's ass, after some missed tries. Jared knew it wasn't the animal's fault. It had never penetrated, never fucked anything more than a container. And if it weren't for the need to breed Jensen, it never would. That wasn't what cows were for, not even alphas, they were too dominant as it were, giving them more of it, than this, could very well ruin it for life. It's why most farmers preferred in-vitro fertilization. Jared though, he preferred the natural method, even with all its risks.

Annoyance gave way to lust when Daisy finally caught the rhythm. To be able to look at them both, the tangle of tiny limbs, to watch sweat form over the alpha's back, to hear the moans coming from Jensen, it made him want more. No matter how happy he was with the sight of the two of them, fumbling their way to do what he told them to, looking at him for orders, at the end, he pushed Daisy out of way, up from Jensen banished to the side of the bed. 

Jared didn't have the patience to kick the cow off of the bed, and out of the room, no matter how much he wanted to do both. He grabbed some lube and rubbed it in, before using enough on Jensen to make a machine run smoothly for a year. He literally grabbed Jensen off the bed and placed him over his dick, slowly piercing the cow's ass, ignoring the thing's building sobs as it went down and down forced by both gravity and Jared's arms around its stomach until the cow's ass hit Jared's balls. He let Jensen rest for a second, before ordering the Omega to ride him. It's thighs spread over Jensen's laps, putting full force on its knees as it lifted itself up and down Jared's dick.

There were eyes on him, on them. Blue eyes, that seemed frozen on Jensen, its lips thin and smooth, unfucked. Daisy had crawled back on its knees. Jared ordered the alpha to come closer and grab the container from besides the bed. Jared's left hand wrapped around Jensen's balls and dick, finishing what his dick in the cow's ass had started, pulling the cow’s dick like a faucet, letting the milk get caught in the container that Daisy was holding. He didn’t even bother to watch, while Jensen moved up and down Jared’s own dick, even tighter than before now that it was letting go. 

Jared knew it was unfair that he didn’t even bother to look after Daisy, the way that he should. All the cow became was a tool to help Jared milk Jensen for Ambrosia while Jared focused his full attention on Jensen tensed up body, forcing the tiny body on top of him to keep moving, while he tasted its neck, caressed its thighs and felt ready to burst. 

When he finally pulled out of Jensen, he barely managed to stop long enough to pull off the condom, before sinking back into the cow, this time in his pussy. The way it felt, tight, he let himself sink in and came without a thought. He didn’t even bother to think of the risks, the odds. 

It was only a minute later that Jared even remembered that Daisy was still there. The young cow quickly turned down his eyes, looking away from Jared and Jensen. 

Jared pulled himself out of Jensen and lay down on his side, watching the young cow who was desperate to stay still. Jared touched his side and turned the cow over, posing him until the cow's legs were wide open. 

"Suck your brother Daisy, he needs your help." Daisy crawled closer to Jensen and moved himself between Jensen's leg. He placed his hand on Jensen's stomach, Jared couldn't see the other cow's eyes, but the way Jensen was looking at Daisy, he knew the young Omega could.  
"Suck him, then clean him, both his dick and his holes." 

Daisy went to work, when he finally looked up long enough for Jared to catch him, the alpha was crying. Jared didn't understand why, he hadn't even been penetrated, so it couldn’t be because of any physical pain. And there was that reluctance again, this struggle between lust and fear. Jared got the lust, the smell of sex on an Omega was enough to drive any Alpha wild. But the fear... why wouldn't the cow be happy to be allowed to even touch Jensen as the Omega came. It was a gift not many of the Alphas would ever receive, it should be happy for it. And instead it was as if Daisy had to force itself to even come near Jensen. 

The two looked good together, amazing even but all that Jared could really focus on was the way that Jensen looked under Daisy's tongue, the way his breathing sped up, beautiful, shimmering, covered in sweat. 

It was all about Jensen.

"So beautiful." Jared whispered, taking the container that Daisy had just filled up with Jensen's Ambrosia, and sipping it, there was so little in it, but the taste picked him up and made him hard all over again. Jared motioned at Jensen, the Omega cringed at its sight. Jared tried to soothe the thing, as it approached him. Jensen took his dick in its mouth, licking its length. 

Then Daisy started to whine softly, as if begging for something, asking for Jared’s attention, maybe he’d mistaken the crying earlier. Jared couldn’t blame him, as the cow’s owner had a duty to take care of all his cows, and he had been focusing so much on Jensen that he’d pretty much ignored poor Daisy.

He made Jensen stop and ordered the alpha to lie down on his side as he fucked into its asshole. Jared tried to be gentle, but couldn’t help feeling like he was in a hurry to get back to Jensen. Sweet sweet Jensen who lay curled up as far away from Daisy and Jared as it could get without leaving the bed. Jared grabbed its arm, looking at Jensen the entire time as he fucked Daisy. Daisy tried, God knows, he tried hard to do anything to please Jared, to keep Jared's attention on itself instead of on Jensen. But it wasn't enough, it wasn't Jensen. 

Maybe Jared was getting too obsessed, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Not even the next morning when he saw the bruises on Jensen’s arms, the tearing at the little Omega’s asshole as Jared had fucked him several more times throughout the night after he'd done his duty to Daisy. Or the tear tracks and tired eyes on the Omega’s face as it desperately tried to look anywhere but at him or Daisy. 

And when Jared had finally let Daisy have another go at Jensen, the alpha seemed almost hesitant to touch its Omega brother, as if it realized that Jensen was Jared’s and that no matter how often it might have Jensen, it would always be no more than a loan.


	14. Chapter 14

Chad and Chris were closing off. Removing the last of the machines, placing the tubes and probes away for the night. Cleaning up the leftovers of the food. Jared hadn’t been inside the stable since morning, when he’d stood there, watching over them as Jensen and his shift were hooked up to the machines. 

Nighttime was coming and for the fifth time that week, Jensen feared its arrival. All this week, Jared had foregone the bag, hadn’t bothered even pretending to be fair. Each night, over and over again, he’d told Jensen to follow him, and each morning, Jensen would return, bruised, tired and dirty, feeling ashamed for his own weakness and fear. Jensen was exhausted, tired, and started to feel that if he had to go through another week of this, of nonstop milking without the nights to rest up in, his balls would shrivel up in protest and dry out on the spot. 

Daisy and him barely even dared look at one another anymore, terrified that if they did, Jared or Chad would have them put on a show in front of everyone else. And no matter how much Jensen realized that it wasn’t Daisy’s fault, that Daisy wanted this no more than Jensen did, it didn’t stop him from cringing away at the touch of Daisy’s hands on his flesh.

Thumper had tried to run interference for them all day, he’d gotten a few lashes of the whip from Chad for it as well. But when Jensen had tried to tell him not to take the risk, he’d just shrugged it off, placed a gentle kiss on Jensen’s forehead and went right ahead getting in Jared’s way all over again. The older cow was still bleeding from the last time.

Night was coming soon. And no matter what any of them did or tried, Jared would come and take Jensen, or worse, Jensen and Daisy. Jensen wanted to beg him to stop, but there was no hope for that. Daisy had tried to say no, the third night, he ended up thrown over Jared's lap and beaten with Jared's belt. Afterwards Daisy had smiled at Jensen, as if he'd been successful, if being successful meant keeping Jared busy for an hour while he beat the crap out of Daisy then he had. but it wasn't the kind of success that Jensen wanted any part of.

Diner had been served over an hour ago, and Chad and Chris were talking about something by the doors. Chris kept motioning at the cows, saying something to Chad who wasn't buying it. 

Jared didn't show his face even once.

Chad and Chris were still fighting when Chad turned off the main lights. The place was never entirely dark, that was too dangerous, the cameras wouldn't be able to spot anything. But you quickly learned to ignore the emergency lights on the walls if you wanted to get some sleep. 

Jensen wished he could believe it, that this night at least he’d be left in peace. But he couldn’t find sleep, didn’t dare to. Not when at any moment, Jared could shake him awake, order him up and marched him up to the house, to his room, to his bed, to....

Jensen's stomach hurt, not as bad as when he’ d first started changing, but there was something wrong with him. He just hadn’t dared to even hint at anything to Chad. He might have, if it had been Chris giving him his food, but Chris had worked the other side of the stable today. It was one of those times that he hated that the two of them switched off. Jared said it kept the cows from getting attached to one of the stable hands over the other. Jensen couldn't imagine how any cow could ever get attached to Chad.

His stomach was feeling queasy, he was hot, as if something was burning up inside of him and the more Jared had taken him that week, the worse it got. As if Jared had somehow jump-started his heat, but that shouldn’t be possible, right? Then again, what did Jensen know about well… anything.

He got out of his booth and walked up to the raster, sank down on his knees and lost his dinner to the waste shaft underneath the raster. Watching down the darkness as water started flowing, removing every last bit of the slimy brown stuff they'd been fed earlier. 

Thumper looked up from his booth, startled when he spotted Jensen. The alpha got out of his booth and knelt down beside Jensen asking him what was going on with a simple touch on his chest. Thumper was naked and big, not as big as Jared, but big, but Jensen was never ever scared of him. he didn't have to be, Thumper would never harm him, never willingly touch him if he had any chance to avoid it. 

Jensen held his wide open hand over his stomach and clenched his eyes shut. Thumper got up and came back with a cracker for Jensen to eat. Jensen sat up, crossing his legs as he did so, he didn’t really want to put anything more inside of him. But Thumper insisted. 

They sat together quietly for a while before Jensen realized that Daisy had joined them. Daisy bowed his head in apology, resting it on Jensen's leg. Jensen tried to tell him it wasn’t his fault, scratching behind Daisy's ear, but it was hard to make clear.

They curled down together against the wall, Jensen wasn’t even surprised when one of the other alphas came over and covered them with their blankets while Thumper let the two boys settle up against him. Thumper looked down at Jensen and Daisy and closed his eyes, his head resting against the wall. It was nice, lying down on a heap like this, touched by people who had no intention of putting anything inside of him. Well unless you counted Thumper’s inclination to keep feeding him. Someone you could trust.

The floor was comfortable enough that he was starting to doze off, maybe even fall asleep. Knowing Thumper, he wouldn’t be surprised if he found himself back in his own booth the next morning. It wouldn’t be the first time any of them had fallen asleep in a place they weren't supposed to be. It wasn't too uncommon for some of them to share a booth, to share warmth or comanionship. 

The wind carried sounds with it, it had been doing so all afternoon. Singing, cheers, and a voice, Josh. Jensen hadn't been able to make out the words, they weren’t that loud, but it sounded like Josh. Over and over again, as if someone kept repeating certain words and the people listening to them cheered whenever they were said.

Jensen knew he had to be fooling himself. It couldn't be Josh, Josh was safe. But still he clung to that hope, those hints of voice that reminded him of home, of before. 

He fell asleep on those words, on its memory and the sound of harps and drums as they were easier to catch than the words. Dozing away to the thought of sunshine, of playing in the field, with no fences in sight, just him and Daisy and Thumper and Dapper and all the others running free.

He woke up at the sound of flesh slapping flesh, opened his eyes and stared a bit befuddled as he saw Thumper hitting the wall. Jared was there, holding a gun, cradling it in his hand. There was noise everywhere and Jensen had no idea how he'd managed to sleep throughout it all.

“You should know better.” Jared said aiming the gun at Thumper. "You're not in charge here, you're not the dominant. You're nothing but a cow, my cow, and when I tell you to get out of the way, you fucking well do so." The last words were emphasized by a bullet shot ringing through the stable, waking up all the cows who'd managed to stay down so far. Staring at Jared, at the smoke flowing from the gun, at the red spot building on Thumper's chest as he sank down against the wall, his eyes wide open in shock.

Jensen ran up to Thumper, his hands holding on to the wound, desperately trying to stop the flow of the blood. Daisy was standing back, staring between Thumper and Jared, taking a step back and back. Thumper was trying to whisper something through the bit. It sounded like "be brave", but it was soft and hard to understand. Thumper's eyes closed and Jensen's mouth fell open, mouthing the Alpha's name. 

Suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder, he looked up and stared at Jared. "I had no choice, it made me do it, touching you, trying to keep me away from you. He had no right. You're mine."

Jensen tried to get away, but the grip on his arm was too tight, pulling him closer. Jared sounded eerily calm, his every word came out slowly, his every move measured, as he stood surrounded by all the cows who came closer and closer. Shock, fear, Thumper! Jared shot Thumper!

Even the most frightened of their number couldn't hide from that.

Jared picked up Jensen, pulling him close to his chest, while the other cows came closer and closer. The farmer pulled the door open and slammed it shut before the others could follow. One of the guards came running up to them, sirens blaring.

"Boss, that..."

Jared ignored them, his face ice cold, as he pulled Jensen over his shoulder and went up to the car lot. 

“My little one.” Jared whispered. Jensen tried to crawl away, but he was stuck, unable to move from Jared's grip. Jensen would almost have preferred the rage over the calm that had taken hold of the man. Jared dropped Jensen to the floor, not giving him a chance to run, before he grabbed Jensen’s arm and pulled him to his feet. Jensen had no choice but to follow him as Jared took them to one of the cars.

Not the truck, not even the station wagon with the cage in the back. But some old Chevy that Jensen had never seen before. It looked like a classic, early 20th century. Jensen used to have a thing for 20th century cars, before, but he still remembered the name Chevy Impala. Jared opened the trunk and pushed Jensen in. It felt like getting thrown into a dark pit.

Jensen wanted to scream and beg Jared not to close the lid, but the dark came rushing towards him and there was no escape. The car started and Jensen felt himself thrown around as the car started up, hanging on to the side, trying to stay in place, and ignoring the sharp edges of something that took place in the trunk alongside him. 

Jensen could hear sounds coming from the car, Jared muttering something over and over. “They won’t get you.” He kept saying. There was shouting from outside as they drove off, more gunshots, but the car just sped up, tires screeching and all until they got past the noise and then all there was was darkness and silence and Jared's mad mumblings. 

Jensen could hear the screeching of the radio turning on. Jensen wondered how old the thing had to be, just barely alerted to adapt to newer technology. In between the static he could hear voices that became clearer as Jared messed with the station.

“Current numbers are up at 4 million people who gathered in Washington today to listen to Josh Ackles Speak at the Washington National Mall. Many of them children and teenagers, entire classrooms that took the trip to Washington to hear their hero speak."

Jensen heard a crackle before the sound went over to Josh's voice. "We are the future of this nation, the blood in its veins. And we say no more. Too long the people have stood by and allowed the suffering of our peers, our classmates, our friends, our brothers and sisters, our sons and daughters and we have done nothing. We have stood by and allowed their suffering for another day of youth, another day of health and well being. Today is the day we take a stand, and today is the day we say 'no more'. No more and never again." 

What had to be a million voices took over the words, repeating them, until the reporter cut away from the crowd and took back the word.  
"Millions more listened to the speech at gatherings in schools, community centers and even bars and pubs, or those just listening along at home all over the world. People have crowded on town's squares, repeating Josh Ackles mantra. Historians are already calling the ‘no more’ speech one of the most important historical events of the century." Jensen could hear the man's voice breaking over the words, and listened as the reporter pulled himself together. "Rumor on Capitol Hill, has it that Ackles has already spoken to President Ostroff a few hours ago and that a signing of abolition of ambrosia slavery should go into effect within days.”

Then the radio got cut off and Jensen heard Jared’s fist hit something, before the radio screeched out of existence. Jensen wished he had any idea of what was going on, but all he had was the upset in his stomach and the increasing urge to throw up. It soured his mouth, making the need for it worse with every passing second, until he could no longer hold in. 

It wasn’t like the trunk was cramped, in fact, if it had been smaller, it probably would have been easier to stay put instead of getting thrown around every time the car made a turn or a stop. But it was getting hard to breathe. Even with the air holes in between the trunk and the back seat. 

His nostrils were filled with the stench of his own vomit and sweat, the smell of oil and fumes and dirty socks that had to be hidden somewhere in one of the corners. The trunk was dark and the air felt heavy and Jensen had to focus not to fall asleep. He was too scared of what would happen if he did.

When the car finally stopped moving, Jensen was fighting the bit in his mouth, just so he could fully open his mouth and breathe. Both the bit and his stomach were covered in vomit, no matter how much he'd tried to avoid it. When the trunk opened, he had to blink not to stare at the sudden lights overhead, he gagged for the sudden influx of fresh air.

“We’re almost safe my little one. My little Jensen. Soon we’ll be up in the air and those bastards will never get you back.”

Who? Josh? Jensen wondered why his brother’s name kept bringing up the idea of struggling, he would have thought that the urge to do so had been beaten out of him years ago, even as a part of his mind kept screaming at him that he should. 

They were in an empty warehouse, or at least that's what it looked like to Jensen. Distant walls with high glass windows way out of reach

“All we have to do is wait for the others and then a plane is going to come and get us out of here, get us somewhere that people are still sane.”

‘Leave where?’ Jensen wanted to ask, but Jared wasn’t even really talking to him, just to himself while his fingers stroked over Jensen’s arm and thigh before he pulled Jensen out of the car. Jensen stood shakily on his feet, about ready to drop. 

“Everything is going to be just fine, forever.”

And that’s when Jensen broke through years of conditioning and started struggling, desperate to run, he hadn't even realized he was still holding the sharp thing that had been cutting into him throughout the ride until it hit Jared's leg, making Jared drop his hold long enough for Jensen to run.  
He made it as far as the warehouse door.

 

******

 

“It’s over.” Chad had said. “We’re fucking over.” 

Jared had jumped off the couch, kicked over the side table and nearly smashed down the TV. Crushing remnant shards of glass under the sole of his boot.

“He said five years.” Chad continued. “We were supposed to have a few years.”

Jared didn’t give a damn about what Chad was ranting on about, all he could of think was that mob, all those people, filling out the Washington mall, flooding out over the streets, listening to speakers, watching holo screens as Ackles spoke. It had been just a speech, just one more speech, Ackles had given dozens, if not hundreds over the past three years, … even with the numbers, it should have been just a speech. But then Ackles called in the one thing none of them had expected.

Jared left the room, desperately trying not to think about any of it, he ignored Chad, and marched past Chris. 

“Jared.” He heard his name from Chris, but wouldn’t let it stop him. “You’ve got to calm down. You had to know it would happen some day.”

He turned around, forcing Chris against the wall. “Come on, Jared, you can’t possibly think that people wouldn’t have.” Jared dropped the man and continued on his way, he didn’t want to hear another word.

“Damn it, Jared. They’re just seeing the truth. You had to know that people wouldn’t keep tolerating this, us, forever…”

“You’re fired.” Jared said, not even raising his voice, as he marched downstairs. But he already knew it wouldn’t matter, what did it even mean anymore. If abolition went through, they’d all be out of work. Worse than that, all his cows would be forced into a world they had no way to deal with. And all his father and those before him had done to build this farm would be ruined. He’d be a failure. Hell he was a failure, nothing but a dumb stupid failure, a waste of money, of food, of care and schooling. His father had wasted all that on a failure like him, and he hadn’t deserved it.  
He remembered being twenty one, and coming back from college. His father had been so proud. Jared had wanted to see the two younger brothers that had still been at home when he left. They’d been sold while he was gone. 

His father only needed one heir, who needed a spare when you’ve already got one ready to inherit. 

And Jared had let him down. 

He slammed the door shut, not caring that Chad had been right behind him. They were going to take his cows, they were going to take everything he worked for, everything he’d build up, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. 

Nothing

_“I’d like to introduce you to a man, who has inspired me. Who has shown me the true meaning of being a hero. A man, who has been forced to spend the past forty years in hiding, but who has been willing to come out of cover now so that you, the people of America, may hear the voice that the Ambrosia Industry has been trying to silence for over a century.  
Mister James Beaver.” _

_Jared hadn’t understood what Ackles was talking about when an older man came forward on the stage. He was slightly taller than Ackles was, a little over six ft if Jared had a guess. There was gray in his thinning hair and beard. And his eyes, even half hidden behind a pair of rimmed glasses, they looked as if they held the world inside of them._

Jared marched into the stable, he needed to see his cows, needed to be near them. If they were going to be taken away. For the first time he understood why some farmers had chosen to destroy their farms as if to take them with them, before taking their own lives. The farms were so much a part of themselves that it had been the only option.

The place was dark, as if in hiding, and Jared just wanted to touch every last one of them, as if to make sure they were all still there. But especially his Jensen, his little Omega. His hope, the one thing that he hadn’t failed at yet. 

_“I wouldn’t say I’m a hero, Josh, I’m just a man…like any other. Even if many might not see me that way.” He turned to the crowd. “Even as I see all the people here, good people, and I can’t begin to say, how amazing it feels to know that so many people showed up and are willing to give me the opportunity to speak.” The camera followed his gaze into a sea of young faces, children, teenagers, young adults, all of them a bit confused about who this stranger was, but waiting and eager to hear his words nonetheless. “My name is Jim, James, Beaver. And I was, for five years of my life, an Ambrosia Cow. Most farmers, if asked, would say that I still am.”_

_That’s when Jared dropped his glass._

Jensen hadn’t been in its booth. When Jared looked around he found the Omega huddled against the wall. Jensen and Daisy and in between them Thumper, holding the two younger cows in his arms, letting them lean on its chest, covered under blankets. But wide awake. 

Taking advantage of Jared's cows, of Jared’s kindness. 

Chad and one of the guards were following after him, standing behind Jared, Chad tried to ask him what he wanted them to do, what they ‘should’ do. Jared ignored him, turned to the guard and grabbed the gun from his belt before the man could stop him. Holding it in his hand. Thumper was staring to sit up, staring at Jared. Grey blue eyes staring at him in defiance, again. Thinking it was more than it was. Just like those breeders had done years ago, right before they rose up against him. The cow got up, set itself between Jared and the two cows leaned up against the wall. It stopped and knelt before it reached him, which only infuriated Jared even more. He slapped the thing’s face, first with his hand, then with the gun. The cow was pushed back, Jared hit the animal again, forcing it towards the wall. Jared stopped, raising the gun. His hand felt sweaty. His father had taught him how to use guns, but Jared had never thought he ever would. The guard was yelling at him, Chad was asking what was going on and the cows were waking up, slowly moving in their booths, waiting to see what would happen. 

“You should know better.” Jared heard himself say the words as he aimed the gun at Thumper. "You're not in charge here, you're not the dominant. You're nothing but a cow, my cow, and when I tell you to get out of the way, you fucking well do so." And then he saw smoke coming out of the gun, a gunshot rang through the air. So loud, so damn loud. And a red spot started forming on Thumper’s chest. The cow’s eyes went wide open in shock, as its hand moved to the blood, spreading it further. 

Jared remembered when he’d first bought Thumper, a little blackhaired boy that constantly needed to be told it couldn’t talk. Shy one moment, playing games the next. He wanted to head up to it, wanted to comfort the cow, wanted to say sorry, he’d killed this thing that he’d brought up, that had been his for so long. This beautiful creature, that was now…

_“I was a beta.” The old man said, it looked so little like a cow. Old where a cow should be young, hairy where it should be bald, dressed where it should be naked. The man turned around for a moment, pulling down the collar of his shirt and showing the camera an old barcode that was still as clear as it must have been the day it had been tagged on his neck. “That means that my body didn’t fully accept the changes Nectar brought with it, so I never fully developed into a breeder. I guess in a way, that made me lucky.”_

_There were stunned faces in the crowd, now all too eager to listen._

Jensen ran up to Thumper, and Jared still couldn’t bring himself to move, staring as the Omega tried to hold back the flow of blood with its little hands, they barely even covered all the blood. Jared glared at Daisy, daring the alpha to move, it stood back, locked between Jared and Thumper.  
Jared heard a gargling sound coming from Thumper’s lips, it finally enabled him to move, up to Thumper, his foot pushing at Thumper’s leg as if to prove to himself that the cow was truly gone. He’d have to call the vet, get him to take its body away, had to…

Jared grabbed Jensen’s shoulder. The cow stared up at Jared and Jared somehow found himself forced to explain himself. He would never be able to say why. They were cows. He hadn’t shot a person, just an animal. But somehow, something inside of him demanded an explanation.

"I had no choice, it made me do it, touching you, trying to keep me away from you. He had no right. You're mine." He rambled on and on, as he pulled the young cow closer to himself. 

It was crazy, as if he needed to excuse himself to his own livestock, but he still couldn’t stop himself from doing so. 

Jensen tried to get away, struggling under Jared’s hand. But the little cow stood no chance, it was so little in comparison to Jared himself. He had to pull himself together, as he continued explaining. Telling them everything would be fine. The cows slowly started moving out of their booths, crawling, walking up to Jared, surrounding him. He’d never been scared of his own cows before, not even in the last rebellion. 

He raised the gun, but they kept coming. 

Jared picked up Jensen, pulling him close to his chest, while the other cows came closer and closer. The other men had already been heading out, just Jared and Chad inside. Jared pulled the door open and slammed it shut before the others could follow. One of the guards came running up to them, sirens blaring.

"Boss, that..."

“Chad he’s…”

Chad was still inside, Jared couldn’t bring himself to care, they all hated him, they all betrayed him. 

“My little one.” Jared whispered. Jensen tried to crawl away, but he was stuck, unable to move from Jared's grip. The cow tried to plant its feet, but Jared grip on it was too strong as he dragged it to the cars. 

He heard Chad scream in the background. He didn’t care. 

There were six cars, he picked the old Chevy that used to belong to his grandfather, his father had given it to him when he graduated high school. His first true gift from a father who wanted to show how much Jared had pleased him when he became Valedictorian. The father who’d still mistakenly believe that Jared would be a worthy heir.

_“Thirty six years ago, the Underground Railroad did a strike on the farm that bought me from my parents. They took me and over forty other cows, and they saved us.” It’s then that Jared realized something that should have been obvious decades ago. The AAM, the Underground Railroad, they were the same thing, just different names and different packaging. “Like they had done from other farms before then. They would go on raids, and bring us to these places, private homes. I remember how scared I was. Just a little boy, thirteen years old. And for five years I’d been told I was nothing but an animal. If I’d dared to talk, I would have screamed when they offered me clothes.”_

The guards came up to him, trying to stop the car, asking him what was going on, but he hid the pedal, speeding up and making them jump out of the way. The protesters had moved closer to the gates, he didn’t let them stop him. The tires screeched as he raced past them. 

_“They were kind, those people. They didn’t understand, didn’t know, but they cared. They held us when we cried at night, they told the younger ones bedtime stories and gave us beds to sleep in that felt like you'd sink away in them, and sheets to lie under. They let us play, let us read, let us be human. And it was scarier than any whip the foremen had used on us before, because at any time, it could all be taken away from us, all over again. I didn’t speak for another five years.”_

The radio talked about nothing but the rally, the speeches, playing Doria, over and over again, Jared had no choice but to kick the hell out of it, anything for silence, blessed silence. He kept driving, calling Jeff to tell him he was on his way to the safe haven he’d thought he’d never have to use. 

_“I remember how odd it was to be given a plate with food on it. It was carrots, carrots and meat and potatoes. There were colors on our plates and they gave us plastic forks to eat it with. I barely even remembered what carrots looked like. “ The old man took off his glasses, there was sweat on his forehead. “And then I pushed my face in the plate and tried to eat it like we were supposed to. The woman taking care of us, looked so sad, when I lifted my face, and there were all these juices and bits of carrot stuck on my face. She took a handkerchief and cleaned me up. And then she spent the next few hours trying to teach me how to hold a fork again. I was scared to even get near the thing.”_

Jared could hear something knocking around in the trunk, but he couldn’t stop. He had to get away with his prize, his Omega, his Jensen. It was all he could do, all he should do. 

_“For the first time, since my parents sold me, I got to be free. Sure, we had to hide, but you can’t imagine what it’s like to go from being treated like no more than an animal, to being… to being seen as a human being again._

_To sit in the sunlight in an open square and look at all those people, marching around as if life was free, and have not one of them order me around, or tell me what to do. One night, the man who took care of us was angry, and I went to my knees before him, and he tried to pull me up, tell me I didn’t have to do that. He never even realized I wanted to suck his dick. I figured, they’d been so kind, it’s the least I could do. It never even entered his mind.”_

Jared wanted to be there already, to milk Jensen for Ambrosia so he could think again, be clear again. He needed to kiss those lips and sink in between those cheeks. Anything to make the world feel right once more. 

_“The farmers, they say that once you’re a cow, you’re an animal, you’re nothing more than a thing to be used. But it doesn’t work that way. Not by a long shot.” Beaver seemed to need to take a breath. “They beat you, and they rape you, and they do things to you to mess with your head. They make you sit in place, waiting for one of them to force his dick inside of you, and make you thank them with kisses and a blowjob, for the kindness of not taking you dry._

_They feed you Nectar and make you forget what it feels like to really be sated. They milk you, over and over, until… It took me ten years before I even wanted to think about sex after I was freed. My wife, no matter how understanding she was, she never got why I wouldn’t even consider sleeping with her with the lights out. I needed to see her, to see her face, to know it was her underneath me, needed to know I wasn’t back in the stable, that it hadn’t all been a dream.”_

The warehouse came in sight. It was one of Jeff’s buildings. Jeff had given him the address two months ago. He said it was just in case. In case the worst happened and they needed to leave. Jeff would be there in the morning, possibly sooner and all he demanded in return for the use of his jet was the use of Jensen once they got to safety. It was a small price to pay, to keep the little Omega with him for the rest of its life. 

Jared checked the back seat, five vials of nectar, ready to be used, enough to last him for a week until he had time to make more. 

_“They give you drugs that change you, that do something to you, make you hunger for things, they mess with your smell, mess with who and what you are, and no matter how much you hate it, there’s nothing you can do to defend yourself. Nothing on the outside, but on the inside, you keep fighting, hanging on to whatever little shred of humanity you’ve got left. “_

_The crowd hadn’t said a word as the old cow spoke, millions of children just listening, it was like watching a million cows staring up at one of their own._

Jared almost tore the cover of the trunk out of its hinges as he stared down on his little treasure. Jensen stank, covered in filth, slightly bleeding. The poor cow was a mess and desperately needed to be cleaned. But even under the dirt and stench, it was like it glowed, holding his precious Ambrosia inside of it. The Omega gagged for air and he tried to soothe it, wanting so much to just put his lips on Jensen’s. There was vomit on its lips, he chose to wait. 

“We’re almost safe my little one. My little Jensen. Soon we’ll be up in the air and those bastards will never get you back.” He allowed the Omega a moment to find itself, to get used to the place that would be their haven for the night. “All we have to do is wait for the others and then a plane is going to come and get us out of here, get us somewhere that people are still sane.” He couldn’t help himself, exploring the cow’s body, but limiting himself, until the poor cow was cleaned up. 

He pulled the cow out of the car, letting it get to its feet, before he’d get both of them under a shared shower. 

_“They made me breed with this young girl, they did that sometimes, mostly with the betas. They saved the Alphas for the Omegas. She was barely twelve, I was a few months younger. And I knew that when they said the breeding was successful, that that meant that that baby would be born a slave and never get a chance to be free. “ The old cow’s eyes dropped to the floor, as if ashamed. Jared didn’t understand why. It should have been happy, most breeding programs stopped using betas years ago, he was sure that any of his betas would have been happy to get a chance at a female for once. He was sure he would._

_“There weren’t enough breeders, they said, Not enough to continue the species on their own. So they used us, they bred human children, that would never even realize they were human before they got tagged. I only know she had a little boy, because if it had been a girl, they’d have terminated the pregnancy and started over. They didn’t need more girls, girls had to be let free as soon as they reached the age of majority, girls couldn’t be turned into cows, the ambrosia inside of them isn’t strong enough to be useful and they don’t spread the gene. I never saw her again, nor my son, and knowing what Nectar does to the body, chances are he’s already dead. Thirty six is considered old age for an Ambrosia Cow. Even if it doesn’t have to be.” The murmuring of the crowd swelled. “I haven’t taken nectar in thirty six years, my caretakers hesitated on that, worried that the lack of Nectar might hurt us. But they still took the risk. And as you can see, I’m in good health, my body isn’t killing me and at my last doctor’s visit, he told me I’m likely to grow old enough to be a pain to my grandchildren. The youngest of which turned two last weeks." He sounded like a kindly old man, more so than he did as a cow and it sickened Jard to look at the thing. "There isn’t a trace of ambrosia left in my blood or in my children's.“_

_“What?” it came from someone in the audience, the rest of the crowd had gone so silent that the single word came out clearly. “When a beta is not given Nectar, we revert back to human baseline. It’s something that the Ambrosia Industry hasn’t wanted people to know for a long long time. And we know they figured it out decades ago. There may remain tiny hints of it on base DNA markers, but other than that, we’re fully human. Our children are fully human. And we aren’t dying. The only thing killing an Ambrosia cow before they reach forty, is the constant feeding of Nectar and the farmers killing us, before we become… old.” Unattractive is what he meant, he wasn’t wrong._

“Everything is going to be just fine, forever.” Jared whispered the words in Jensen’s ear, pulling the Omega closer. 

_“They tag us, and they enslave us, and they take our humanity. But it’s not that physical changes that make us inhuman, it’s what they do to us, to make us the animals they wanted us to be. But even the worst of us, still has that shard of humanity left that they struggle to keep for as long as they’re capable of. No matter how beaten, no matter how catatonic, it’s there, hoping for the chance to one day be free._

And that’s when the animal in his arms went wild, fighting him as if its life depended on it. Jared tried to stop it before it hurt himself. He barely even realized what was happening, until an old file was forced into his thigh. Jared screeched in pain and let go, long enough for Jensen to try and make a run for it. 

It made it as far as the warehouse door, ready to run out when the door opened. 

Jared had never been so happy to see Jeff in his life. 


	15. Chapter 15

The abandoned factory was old. Not just older than Jensen himself old, but old, like from before Ambrosia old. Jensen could see a few leftover shreds of posters covering the walls and parts of the windows. Jensen didn’t recognize the name, but there was no mention of ambrosia anywhere on the posters. These days even the cheapest forms of medication had at least a few milligrams of ambrosia in them, it was considered a cure all after all.

The place had been dark when they arrived, the cement floors covered in dried out dirt and dust, the only light coming through in between the paper and broken glass up in the wall and the moon shining down on them through it. 

Jeff had grabbed Jensen’s arm, freezing them in place. 

“Jared.” Jeff didn’t even bother to look at Jensen as he made their way back in before pushing Jensen back at Jared. Jensen hit the floor knees down and had to hold in a yelp. “I think your pet needs a leash.”

Jared didn’t answer, he just looked at his leg as if he couldn’t believe that Jensen had actually got a hit in on him. “It attacked me” he said. It sounded almost as a little kid whining to its mom. Jensen started crawling away. Jeff was on him before he moved more than a few inches. 

Then Jensen got kicked in the face, he fell back. He froze, it didn’t help, Jeff kicked him again, hitting him in the chest this time. 

“It’s your own fault, Jared. You’ve always been too soft on your cows.”  
Jared was still looking at his leg, as if he really couldn’t believe the wound was really there, his hand on this pants as if trying to hold the blood from flowing.

Jeff left Jensen behind in the middle of the great hall, while Jared sat down and pulled down his pants. The wound was still bleeding. Jensen was strained in between making another run for it, and the betrayed look in Jared’s eyes. It was a look that promised retribution. A look that said that Jensen would have to pay, that he’d have to beg for forgiveness, before Jared would ever trust him again. And Jensen would better earn that trust, if he knew what was good for him. 

Jared opened his bag and got out a first aid box. He slowly cleaned up his wound and stopped the bleeding with a bandage. The longer it took, the worse it got.

Jensen was almost happy to see Jeff return, even though he held a whip in his hand as he did so. 

Jeff didn’t even bother talking to Jensen, he just grabbed Jensen by the neck and got him to his feet. Jensen didn’t look at his face, just stood there. When the first lash hit Jensen nearly fell back to his knees.

“Get back up.” It was the first thing Jeff said to him. It was clear it wasn’t a request, Jensen stumbled back up. He didn’t stand still for more than a few seconds before he felt the whip back on his flesh. Over and over, whenever he crumbled, Jeff would order him back up, only to continue the whipping. 

When Jensen’s back, thighs and arms were laid open, Jeff stopped for a second. Ordering Jensen to kneel down, face to the floor. Hands on the floor in front of him. Jensen could see his blood dripping in between his fingers.

Jensen didn’t dare fight, do anything. Jared took a step closer. “Jeff, it’s had enough.”

“No Jared,” as he stamped his boot on Jensen’s fingers. “Not nearly. It attacked you. We need to make sure, it’ll flinch at even the thought of causing trouble ever again. It’s either that or we’ll have to kill it like the rabid dog it is.”

That’s when he hit Jensen in the neck with the back of the whip before throwing the tool aside and pulling something out of his pocket. He put it on his hand. Jensen didn’t recognize what it was, he just knew that if he tried to get up now without permission Jeff would make him pay for it. He knew it was going to hurt, he knew it'd be bad, and maybe, maybe if he fought, they'd let him die, but if they didn't...

Jeff put his boot on Jensen’s back, twisting it around a few times. Jensen couldn’t stop a scream, muffled as it was by the bit. It only angered Jeff even more. 

He didn’t even bother to tell Jensen to shut up. Jensen knew that one quite well on his own.

Then his hand hit Jensen’s buttocks, so far the only part of him that had gotten off mostly unscathed. 

“This, Jared, is what’s called an electroglove.” It barely even touched Jensen, and it was like getting hit by a fully charged taser. “it releases an electrical volt. Easy to use, and even easier to carry with you.” He touched Jensen again, this time holding on longer. Jensen had to bite his tongue not to scream, his blood tasted like copper. “And you won’t even have to put any effort into it.”

“Jeff, don’t.” Jared was halfway up from his seat, his pants already back up, but one look from Jeff made him sit back down.

Jeff touched Jensen a third time and Jensen lost all composure, curling over in pain, losing control of all bodily functions. By the time Jeff finally let go, Jensen lay in a puddle of his own piss and blood. He was sure it would have been even worse, if he’d managed to keep any food inside that day. 

“That’s the problem with animals, Jared. They’re stupid, they forget their place, they forget what they are. If you want to be a true master, then you need to be able to teach them exactly where they belong.” And then Jeff finally let go, leaving Jensen to shudder in the dirt. 

Jared ran up to Jensen and turned him over, checking his breath and heartbeat. When he found that Jensen still had both, Jared grabbed him from the floor, not caring about all the filth. 

“That wasn’t necessary.” Was all Jared said, before he carried Jensen with him to a place in the back of the factory. It was an old changing room, all along the walls were old rusty lockers, covered in dust. There were three old showers left. Jared put Jensen on the floor of one of them before he messed a bit with some kind of machine in the back. Then he pulled off his shirt and underpants, removed his shoes, socks and pants, and turned his attention back to Jensen. 

Jensen had crawled into a kneel, despite the pain that made his body shiver of cold and bloodloss. Jared pulled him up to his feet and stepped into the shower with him. 

Jensen stood still as the water flowed over his back, not daring to turn or move, and risk coming face to face with Jared. The spray gently hit every side of his body, the water heated up as it ran down his back, warmer than he’d gotten used to in the past few years. Jensen realized that the spray wasn’t at full strength, it was an unexpected kindness that made him tear up all over again. There wasn’t a part of his body that wasn’t hurting. Jensen stared down at the blood and puke that sank away into the drain. His muscles were still twitching from the voltage and Jared seemed to be under the belief that caressing the wounds would be soothing. Either that or he hadn’t finished punishing Jensen yet. Combined with Jared’s soft whispers of forgiveness, Jensen couldn’t be sure which of the two it was. 

Jeff had come into the room sometime in between when Jared had taken Jensen under the shower and when he was cleaning Jensen’s face and chest with some kind of lotion, cleansing Jensen’s wounds. The lotion stung at every touch, but Jensen managed to keep himself still. 

Fussing with his beard, Jeff sat down on the bench, carefully avoiding a rack that must have held people’s jackets and coats back when this place was still in use. He sat bent over, focusing on something in his hands. Jensen’s attention kept getting pulled in between the pain, and looking at Jeff. Looking at Jeff was almost worse. 

It was like the man didn’t even see him. Jeff might have been looking straight at Jensen and Jared, but his eyes were aimed at Jared alone. Jensen just happened to be the toy that Jared was currently playing with. 

Jared scared him, but it was in a slow balm of terror that surrounded him at all times. The man sitting across of them was more than just terrifying. His indifference was almost enough for Jensen to panic and fall in catatonia. But he knew that no matter how little Jeff cared about him, the moment he’d try to run, Jeff would destroy him, just to show Jared how it was done. And he wouldn’t even kill Jensen to do it, that would be too kind a way out.

When they were both clean, but still wet, and Jensen had stopped bleeding, Jared gently massaged some kind of salve in the wounds, closing up the worst of it. It eased the pain, made it a constant ache, rather than feeling as if he was about to die. 

And for a moment, Jensen couldn't help but lean back in those hands, welcoming the touch, and the soothing ointment that came with them. Jared continued on, whispering in Jensen's ear. Jensen could feel his owner's hair tickle against his back. 

Jared gently pulled Jensen backwards, letting Jensen's body rest up against Jared’s. Jared's legs spread his, only slightly, but enough to give Jared access to Jensen's balls and holes. 

He felt himself turned around, pushed up against the wall by one of Jared's hands forced up against his side, while the other kept playing around with Jensen's balls. When Jared leaned back against the walls, spreading his legs, forcing Jensen's aside as well, Jensen almost fell over, it was only Jared's hold on him that kept him from going down. Jared then pulled Jensen on his lap, Jensen's legs widely spread, so far he was barely able to bend them to keep from being in a complete split. 

Jensen forced himself to relax under the touch, knowing it would only be worse if he tensed up. Jared played with Jensen’s hole, touching it, stretching it. There was a bottle of gel next to the shower head that Jared had been using on his own hair and that he was now using as he stretched Jensen to be ready. 

Jensen’s stomach was messing with him, he felt dizzy and whenever one of Jared's hands touched his nipples, he felt the urge to scream. That and he urgently needed to pee. Which was simply put embarrassing as hell.

Jeff got up from his bench and started to come closer. Jensen did everything in his power to stare at the drip to the floor instead. Jeff's hands moved to Jared’s wrist, pushing it over Jensen chest and nipples. It hurt, he could feel the sides of his mouth tense up whenever the tips of Jared's fingers came near them.

"I think it's getting sick, Jeff, the Omega, it feels... warmer than usual. Not like a fever, just warmer." Jensen nearly burped when Jared touched his tummy. It didn't help that Jared had managed to touch one of the marks left by the whip.

Jeff snorted at the words, but took a look at Jensen, lifting him up from Jared's lap enough to put a finger up in Jensen's pussy.

"I thought you said you were waiting to breed him till he hit his next heat?" Jeff's hand moved alongside Jensen's pussy, touching Jared's dick as if by accident, but Jensen knew better.

"I was." Jared flushed and Jensen could feel the man heat up under Jeff's touch. "It's safer, and father always said that they catch easier when you do."  
Jared seemed to hesitate between getting up and away from Jeff, or pulling Jensen back on top of him.

"Sorry to tell you, kid, but I think your Omega caught on a bit earlier than planned."

Jensen shivered, not quite understanding what was going on. Wishing he was smarter, human, maybe then he'd know what they were talking about that seemed to make Jared tense up underneath him. He was stuck between freezing in place, or starting a set of movements of his own to let Jared come, so that Jensen could go down and away from him. 

“You should have left the thing behind, Jared.” Jeff said in a tone of voice that sounded deceptively kind. Almost like Chad when he was pretending to be nice. “Ackles is going to send his hounds after us, because of it.”

“I’m not scared of Ackles. He’s an idiot with a white knight complex. He’ll give up soon enough.” His hand kept crossing Jensen's nipples, feeling them and Jensen felt his head buck back in pain, desperate to get Jared to just stop.

“Jared.” Jeff grabbed Jared’s hand, making Jared’s nails scratch on Jensen’s chest. “Let me say this as a friend, and the one person who’s always been there for you. The one man in your life who's always had your best interest in mind.”

Jared turned to the older man, twisting inside Jensen and making him yelp in pain, tears flooding from his eyes.

“You’re an idiot.” Jeff continued. Jared growled and pushed Jensen down. Jensen slid down Jared's legs and fell to the floor. He quickly rolled out of Jared’s way, freezing on the floor, making himself as small as possible.   
“Three years ago, we thought that the Ambrosia Industry would last forever. Only three years ago, I was investing in structures that were supposed to last decades, even centuries. We had the law, the world on our side, not a single person would have even considered that there was ever a time we wouldn’t need Ambrosia." It was the first time that Jeff actually looked at Jensen himself, and saw him, the glare of contempt so strong that Jensen wished he could disappear into thin air.

"And then one little boy ends up sold, one little boy. Just one. And his brother takes up the mission. And here we are, three years later, with the cops on our tail, and everything I’ve worked for in the past seventy years about to go down the shredder. And why? Because one stupid idiot with a white knight complex decided he wanted his little brother back.” 

Jared tried to turn his back on Jeff, but the older man grabbed Jensen’s owner and smashed him against the wall. “So don’t you even think of daring to tell me, that Joshua Ackles is just ‘one guy’, and that we shouldn’t be scared as hell of him, because I’m smart enough to admit that I’ve never been more scared of anyone in my life.”

Jensen shuddered, glad that Jeff had once again lost interest in him, stopped seeing him and just saw Jared who still stood there, naked, big as ever. 

“We’re over Jared. We’ve failed. And all we have left to do is run, and hope to find some place in the world that’ll still want Ambrosia.”

Jared leaned up against the wall and Jeff came closer, grabbing Jared’s chin, making Jared face him. 

“Let me have the boy, I’ll get rid of him, I’ll even make it quick, make it … painless. And then we can go.”

Jared wasn’t answering. Jensen slowly backed away, up towards the wall. Jeff let go of Jared and took a step back. 

“No.” Jared said. “I promised my father. I said I’d continue the farm, and pass it on. And I will. I have to.”

“Jared…”

“He was my father, Jeff. He gave me everything. And look what I did with it. I failed him. I failed my father.”

Jeff stood frozen. “No you didn’t.” 

Jared stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel, started to dry himself off before he grabbed a shirt and a stepped into a pair of pants. “What do you know?” He said. "You never had children, never sacrificed everything so they could continue your work. You never even held a farm of your own. You just... invested." Jensen found himself trapped by a wall and stayed in place, trying to move any further would only get him in more trouble. "I think you're right, Jeff. The cow, he's pregnant." Jensen stared at the two of them, unconsciously touching his belly. 

"Then it'll be a problem. You have no papers of the alpha you used as a stud, it's going to be sick, get us nothing but trouble."

"It wasn't... You didn't listen, Jeff, the child, it isn't an alpha's. It's mine. My child, my future. My chance to raise a boy the way my father raised me. And I'm not leaving him behind."

And it was then that it hit Jensen. Ever since he'd found out he was an Omega, and that he might one day have a baby, the one thing he'd feared the most, was having to watch his children grow up as slaves. Seeing them forced to live a life as animals, the way he and the others were. He'd never even considered that said child could have a fate worse than slavery. Until now.

"I'm not disappointing my father," Jared said, while standing firm against Jeff. "Not again."

Jeff looked at him, then at Jensen, as if seeing him for the first time. Yet not him, at the vessel for Jared's child.  
“You never failed your father, Jared. You never failed your real father, you never failed me.”

 

******

 

Jared opened a tin can of beans and some sausages before turning on the oven in the old lunchroom kitchen. He'd almost been surprised when he discovered how many of the left behind appliances still worked. It hadn't even been that hard to turn the electricity and the water back on, not since the owner was trying to sell the old factory as a whole before tearing it down. The fact that there had been gas left was another surprise. He shouldn't be, Jeff stood too much on simple necessities of life not to arrange something in this place before choosing it as a safe haven. But then he already knew that when he found out the showers still had hot water in them. Hot, non rusty water.

The sausages sizzled in the butter, coloring slightly as they baked, the beans boiled in the hot tomato sauce. Drab, like a cow's meal. He wondered who would feed the cows in the morning. Who would clean up the stable? Who would take care of his animals now that he'd abandoned them. He didn’t want to face Jeff, or the claim the older man had made earlier. No matter how much he wanted answers. If asked, he wouldn't even be able to say what questions he wanted answers to, just that he wanted them. 

Jensen was huddled down at Jeff’s feet, a chain around his ankle kept the Omega tied to the table. It was clean, still slightly wet, water dripping off its back and thighs. Jared hadn’t really seen a reason for the chain. The cow was subdued, obedient now that it had been properly disciplined. Jared didn't see any reason to hold a grudge, but Jeff had disagreed. 

Jeff disagreed with a lot of what Jared did. 

The little cow had to be sleepy by now, it had had a long day and Jared wished he could tell the Omega that it would be over soon. But Jeff would probably think that was being too soft as well. Maybe it was, but Jensen was still young, a cow that age needed its sleep if it were to be useful. They had a long flight ahead of them and Jensen would need to be calm for that. 

Jared hadn't flown much. A few business trips, a vacation or two with his father and brothers when he was a kid. He wondered what it would feel like to be blown at 30.000 ft. The flight would take long enough to find out. It would be a good way to get both his and Jensen's mind off of what was waiting for them wherever they ended up going.

He tried to remember the feel of Jensen’s skin under his, the way the cow's full body flushed red when he tickled and teased. He'd once counted Jensen's freckles, kissing them one by one until the little cow had been left as little more than a quivering mass of nerves desperate for release. There were faster ways to milk a cow, but few even half as rewarding.

He'd spent a lot of time with the Omega in the past week, he had to admit it would have been as exhausting for Jensen as it was for him. Maybe more so, since Jensen was so young. But even with his humanity and the intelligence that came with it, there had been many times that he hadn’t thought to use a condom during sex. 

He’d figured it wasn’t really needed, since the cow wasn’t in heat. It was an easy mistake to make. One that up to a week ago, he would have sorely regretted. Mostly because he would have had to end the pregnancy to keep the cow from being filled up, when he needed it to breed.

Jeff had kept asking if he was sure, wondering if he hadn't just let one of his Alpha's have a try at the Omega. The other Alphas were always hanging around Jensen like a bunch of dogs ready to put their dick in the bitch. At least their manners were better than the guard dogs'. Could any of the Alphas have bred Jensen while he wasn't there to stop them? Jared doubted it, they knew better. They had to.

Thumper shouldn't have touched Jensen without his permission. Jared wouldn't have had to kill him if he'd remembered.

Jared hadn’t even allowed Daisy to come inside of Jensen. He'd wanted to wait for Jensen's next heat before he'd let Daisy truly knot with Jensen. So the only possible father, was him. His child, his son, growing inside of his Omega. He was going to be a father. He could understand Jeff being quiet about it, the idea of it was scary as hell. 

There’d been farmers before who used Omegas as surrogates. When they wanted children that were theirs, by blood as well as upbringing, but didn’t want to involve a woman in their life, forcing her way into the child’s head, making them think like her, making them soft. 

Jared didn't mind women, too much. He was friends with several of them, or he'd thought he was. but he knew plenty of farmers who tried to have as little to do with them as possible. To men like that, Omega's were a Godsend.

One old friend of his father's used to ramble on and on about it. How Omegas were proof that God approved of Ambrosia. Why else would the Lord above allow for Ambrosia cows to breed true and continue the line as a species in its own right. Yet allow those same Omegas to breed human children untouched by women's sin.

The man had been drunk as hell, and he'd continued on about how breeders were Gods children, a return of man to the garden of Eden. No knowledge of right or wrong, no bite from the fruit, and no Eve to tempt them out of God's grace.

Jared wondered if the man had ever bothered to actually observe his cows for more time than it took to set up the milking machines. 

The man had been embarrassed the next morning, pretending he hadn't said a word, the night before. It was the last time Jared ever saw the man, the next time they met was at the old man's funeral. His oldest son ended up selling most of the man's cows, said his father spent too much attention on them when he was alive, and that he wasn't going to make the same mistake. 

Jared felt embarrassed in his place. Who wouldn't be, abandoning their father's hard work, all his sacrifices...Jared shrugged it off, it didn't matter. But then what could you expect?

With an Omega, there was no mother. The Omega would carry the child, and with a human father, the child would have a higher likelihood to be classed as human rather than cow. Sure there was a ten percent chance you’d end up with a breeder, but it was a risk many farmers were more than willing to take.

Once the Omega was finished nursing, the farmer would just take the child into their home and there you had it, a freshly conceived heir, with no need for a bothersome partner to want her share of its time. 

Jared’s father hadn’t been a fan of the process, said he found the intermingling of cows and humans detestable. Even if he wouldn’t refuse to deal with a fellow farmer who’d been grown through the Omega surrogate method. He’d just complain about it, as soon as said farmer was gone.

Gerald Padalecki did agree on one thing though, using an Omega was the most surefire way to get a son. Even with a human parent, Omegas never gave birth to anything other than males. And Jared could understand all too well, the benefits of that, to have a child guaranteed to inherit your name and continue the line. Even with the chance of ending up with a breeder, the DNA was never truly wasted. 

Most of those farmers would get two, three kids out of those surrogates and once those proved to do well, the Omega was either kindly put down or sold to some other farm, to keep the kids from getting too attached to them. Jared didn’t plan to get rid of his Omega that easily. 

Jared tried to spread the food out on plates in a way that seemed halfway appetizing. It just made things even more of a mess. He wished he had his own kitchen, that he got to make food that was worth looking at as well as worth eating. But then, they were fugitives now, a little hardship was to be expected. 

He opened a few cupboards and shelves and couldn't find much more than a couple of plastic forks and some steak knives. They'd have to do for now. He grabbed two beers, put them down next to the plates and sat down, tipping his feet against Jensen's thighs to let the cow know he was here.

Jensen didn't look up, but the cow leaned up against Jared's leg, scooting away from Jeff as soon as Jared pulled up his chair. Jared patted Jensen's head, feeling the beginning of stubble to remind him that the cow would need to be shaved soon.

Jared didn’t say a word to Jeff, refusing to deal with the man, even though he desperately needed to know. But he couldn't even bring himself to look the man in the eye. Not without remembering all the times that Jeff had been at the farm, the way the man had watched him grow up. And yet,... he'd never said a word.

“I first met your mother in Fulton." Jeff suddenly started, Jared might have almost thought he'd imagined the word, since Jeff picked up a fork and knife and started eating. "I was working HR in this factory, nothing special, just one of those stepping stones jobs you need before starting a business of your own. I was joking around with a friend the first time I saw her. He was telling a broodmare joke, you know the kind..." Jared did. "How do you make a broodmare laugh on Saturday?"Jared shrugged. "Tell her a joke on Wednesday."

Jared couldn't help a grin, facing Jeff for the first time since the reveal.

"Anyway, she heard me and looked up. They're not supposed to do that, but since it gave me the chance to see her face, I didn't really mind."

"What was she like?" It happened, workers meeting broodmares, falling for them. Yet somehow, Jared didn't think this was going to be one of those happy work floor romances that weren't supposed to happen, but somehow still did.

“She was a month away from turning eighteen and had just given birth to her last calf. I believe she'd had about five while inside. I don't know, I never bothered to check, I just knew that she came from fostering and that I remember looking at her and thinking what a pity it was that we had to throw her out in a few days. But then, the law’s the law.”  
Jeff bit into his sausages, and Jared had to stop from throwing him a napkin as he saw the tomato sauce sliding down Jeff's cheeks.

“She was shy, and they wouldn’t let her nurse the calf, because they didn’t want it to get too attached to her. It would have been different if she'd been sold, then they'd just have given her one last pregnancy, even if it meant keeping her past twenty one. But they can't do that with fosters."

Jared knew, fosters weren't bought, so the moment they turned eighteen, they went free, bought female slaves on the other hand were the factories' property until they turned twenty one, and even then letting them go could be delayed until after their last pregnancy was over. It wasn't that uncommon for the factory to get the girls pregnant weeks before they turned twenty one, just so they could keep them inside for longer. Oh they claimed it was for the girl's protection, to give them care while they were still carrying, but no one with any sense really fell for that.

"The second time I saw her was a few days later, they had her working in the packing side of the factory. Quality control, checking over the bottles to see if the labels fit straight, things like that. Her hair was all tangled up, hanging before her face, so I could barely see her eyes. I went up to her and lifted her hair, just wanting to see those eyes for myself. I was inspecting the girls and the herd’s keeper offered her up to me. His review was coming up and he was just trying to do anything to keep me happy. I still ended up having to fire him though. The man should have known better than to watch porn while at work.”

Jared tried to imagine the scene, the keeper desperate to keep his job, noticing his inspector's interest in the cow. Trying any last ditch in the hope the man would look away from what really mattered.

“When she left, I didn’t give her a second thought. It was just sex, not something to think twice about. I didn’t find out until later that she ended up in one of the broodmare shelters.“

Jared knew which ones he meant. With the law demanding all girls to be released as soon as they reached age or majority, whichever of the two applied to them, most of them had no place to go as soon as they got out. 

With no connections left to parents or family, no education, and no way to deal with regular life they were lost. Sheltered from the world and in no way prepared to be thrown into normal life. The streets were filled with former broodmares, desperate to find something, anything to do to survive.

So a few charity organizations had started up shelters. The girls could stay there until they got their feet back under them, work on getting their GED’s, on readjustment. Jared had often donated to the ones in town, they did good work.

“Turns out, she was pregnant, with you.”

“What did you do?” It wasn't as simple a question as it sounded like, Jared knew that as well as Jeff did.

“Nothing." It wasn't what Jared expected, not when pregnancy was the answer. "I didn’t meet her again until about four years later.”

Jared hesitated. “So…”

“I ran into her by accident. Just a one in a million chance meeting. I almost didn’t even recognize her.”

Jared tried to think back to every memory he had from before, all he could think of was a kind woman’s smile. And that was it.

“She was clean for one thing, dressed up in a simple blazer and a skirt instead of the factory coverall. Her hair, now that it was washed, had this beautiful golden sheen about it, it was tied in the back into a braid and she pushed it to the back after she bent over to help you with your shoe laces. She was playing a game with you, peekaboo, making you show and hide your face." There was a glimpse of that in his memory, Jared tried to reach for it, but it was gone before he could manage.

"And it was seeing you, seeing my mother’s eyes in a toddler that stopped me. Not that I thought anything of it. In fact, if she hadn’t tried to run as soon as she saw me, I probably would have forgotten all about the meeting.”

“She ran?”

"She ran, she saw me, and she pulled you in her arms and ran like her life depended on it. She didn't even bother grabbing her stuff, leaving it to fall on the floor. Her buggy, her bag, even the book she'd been reading before... She didn't bother to stop and grab any of it.

"You scared her?" Jared had to ask.

“You have to understand, Jared. Once a girl is bought by the factory, either as a foster or bought from her parents, any child conceived within its walls, belongs to the factory. The law generally assumes, assumed, that any kid born within ten months of a girl leaving the factory, should be returned to said factory. Since you were born about seven months after she left, that pretty much meant I could have legally taken you away from her. And she’d gotten pretty damn attached to you by then.”

“How old was I?” Her golden face in the light, her laughter.

“About four.” Padalecki had gotten him not much older than that.

“I followed her of course, she was living in this small apartment, filthy, sharing a bathroom with five other families. But you were the world to her. When she realized I was following her, she begged me to leave her alone. It wasn’t until then that I remembered who she was, that I realized about you.”

“What happened.” Jared wasn’t sure he wanted to know. 

“We got into a fight. It was stupid, she was begging me not to call the cops. I tried to calm her down. I didn’t know if I even wanted to turn her in. You were mine as well as hers. We could have arranged something, an adoption, anything. She tried to run with you and … fell down the stairs. It wasn’t my fault, not really.” 

Something sounded wrong about the way Jeff said it though. Jared tried to remember what he knew about the law. The only reason he hadn't been taken was because no one bothered to ask. If someone had checked Jared's age...

“I didn’t mean for it to happen. I was grabbing for you, she fought back. I had you, letting go meant she fell back. I hadn’t even realized how close she was. When I saw her lying there, her head bleeding, I knew that if I called the cops at that point, they’d take you. Any fool could match the dates.

The cops found her the next morning, I brought you in to the foster agency, a few days later, making sure they wouldn’t connect you to her. Didn’t give my name, just told them I found a baby near a crash site. I couldn’t adopt you, not without giving my name, or risk them finding out.” Finding out that Jeff had kidnapped him, that he hadn't handed him over to his rightful owners. That Jeff had killed her.

“And then Gerald told me he was heading out to adopt another brat. It was like God’s seal of approval. I told him you looked smart, like the kind of kid he wanted. He was hesitant. But we’d been friends for years. In the end, he agreed to take you home with him. It was perfect.”

“Perfect.” Jared loved his father, he really did. He loved him more than anything. So why did his mind flash to hands touching him, to the cane and the whip, to eight brothers sent into the stables, to a life of worrying every day that daddy would find something to disapprove.

“Well, you’re here, aren’t you. I knew you’d succeed as Gerald’s heir. I knew he’d make you strong, and you are, you’re everything I could have ever wanted you to be. You made me proud.”

Jared wasn’t even sure why he did what he did. One moment he was playing with his food, the next he picked up the knife from next to his plate and then suddenly it stuck in Jeff’s chest. 

Jared didn’t even realize he’d moved.

Jeff was bleeding, dying, Jared knelt next to him, not quite sure what was happening, what had happened. He heard a sound and realized it was Jensen. Jensen who was shaking in place, Jeff’s blood dripping on the Omega's back. Jared reached out to the cow, it looked at him with wide open eyes, so so beautiful. 

“Come here.” Jensen wasn’t moving. “Now, Jensen. Come here.”

The Omega seemed stuck between the terror of moving and the horror of disobedience, in the end, the second one won and it came up to Jared’s hand, licking Jared's fingers in a request for forgiveness. Jared let it. 

Jared heard a clang against the table as the Omega hit the furthest reach of its chain. Jared petted it’s head, noticing he was spreading Jeff’s blood all over its skin and rising stubble. It took some time to find the key in Jeff’s pocket, the chain fell of the table in a loud clang, the other end still attached to Jensen’s ankle. He grabbed the tablecloth of the table and cleaned off his hand and the cow’s face, a single red fingerprint remained on the leather of the cow’s bit.

Jared pulled the cow’s face up, his lips touching the Omega’s, sucking up its spit and with it the ambrosia inside of it. Sipping his tongue in the Omega’s mouth to reach every drop. He dragged the cow up against the table, spreading it out, back on the table, opening its legs until he was faced with its dick in front of him. It’s dick virtually disappeared in his grip, while the fingers of his other hand penetrated its hole, careful to only try out its asshole and leave the other one alone.

“So beautiful.” He whispered, barely noticing the blood seeping out of Jensen, even as he pushed in, less careful than usually, not bothering with lube. There wasn’t time to wait, no time for anything except placing his mouth on the boy’s dick, feeding himself with its Ambrosia while his fingers pumped up against its prostrate. He looked up at Jensen’s face, seeing those wide open green eyes facing towards him, but looking at nothing. He pushed in harder, desperate to force a connection, to make the cow acknowledge him. 

Letting go, watching the ambrosia flow out, over one hand

More and more blood seeped on his other hand, as he tried to push further and Jensen started screaming inside of his bit. But Jared couldn’t bring himself to stop, not until Jensen looked at him, really looked at him and admitted that all of this was real, that Jared was real. That Jared meant as much to Jensen, as Jensen did to him. But Jensen kept refusing to do so.

“Just look at me, damn it.” He couldn’t stop himself from saying, over and over.

He vaguely heard the shrieking sounds of cars, of something battering the gates. Saw the lights shine through the windows. 

“Come out with your hands up.” He heard a vaguely distorted voice saying outside. But his hand was inside Jensen and he couldn’t lift it, couldn’t care. Just wanted Jensen to see him. 

“Look at me.” He whispered one last time, as he finally pulled out his bloodied hand, staring at the stretched out hole, watching it bleed. He grabbed the table cloth, tried to stem the blooding. Jensen wasn’t supposed to be hurting, Jensen was just, he, it, just needed to see Jared, needed to love him. But the cow was fading, its eyes went glassy, dark, its breathing turned shallow. 

Jared pulled the knife out of Jeff’s chest and stared at it, one way out. Kill himself, kill Jensen and they’d be together forever, like he’d promised. Him, Jensen and the baby.

He dropped the knife, not even sure why. 

So instead he pulled Jensen into his embrace, and carried the cow out like a bride, Jared’s. He started heading up to the outside door, hesitating with the key, not sure how to open it with his arms full of Jensen, when it opened for him.

Two cops together wielded a battering ram, several more stood behind them, guns at ready. Jared placed a soft kiss on Jensen’s forehead, thinking of stepping up to the armed men. Thinking of heading straight to them, making them shoot him. 

Then Jensen moaned, sputtering for breath and Jared sank to his knees, Jensen still in his arms. The cops came closer, aiming their guns at Jared’s head. Before he knew it, Jensen was taken away from him, Jared yelled at them to stop, he yelled at them that Jensen was his, he yelled a dozen other things that were far more rude than that, but no one listened. They just forced his arms behind his back, kicked his legs out from under him and made his head ‘accidentally’ hit the door as they forced him into the patrol car.

All Jared cared to see was the ambulance, the paramedic messing with his cow. And Joshua Ackles standing next to the stretcher, holding Jensen’s hand, right before the paramedic closed the door and the ambulance left. Jared didn’t have to hear Ackles voice to know what he’d say. “I promised to make you pay.”

And he had.


	16. Chapter 16

Setting down his bear on the fortress, kidnapped by Lex Luthor and in desperate need of rescue. Jensen grabbed the red towel that took the place of Superman's cape. Mac didn't want to play, Jensen watched out for her though, she always tried to steal his bear for her tea parties. And as much as at eight he was too old for the bear, that still didn't mean that Mac got to take it away from him. 

Jensen closed his eyes, he could hear his mom in the kitchen, and dad was outside, washing the car with Josh, while Mac was watching television in the living room. It was a summery morning, not a cloud in the sky. Jensen had been running in and out, wearing his cape. He loved this dream, loved it a lot. 

It was a favorite hide away, had been since he arrived here, especially when what Jared did hurt really really bad. The other dreams, they mostly faded when it hurt, but not this one.

It was easier to imagine this dream when it became too much, to remember standing on the staircase and wanting to jump because he was Superman. To remember falling and hitting the floor and crying out in pain because he hurt his hand coming down. To grab for his arm and imagine that it was that pain he felt instead of whatever was being done to him in the real world. 

Putting the bear away to play hostage instead of having to drop a ball into the bin, because it was time to go back to his booth. Hearing Josh complaining about homework, instead of Chad moaning while Daisy sucked him off. When Jared pulled Jensen close he could imagine his mom running up to him and pulling him in her arms, to hear dad screaming his name, while Josh stood there, looking in shock and grabbing Mac closer to him, instead of Chad ordering him down for being too slow. 

Everyone telling him he was going to be fine, instead of the whip. Even the hospital hadn’t been too bad, the doctor’s office had the best lollipops ever. The vet's sugar cubes just couldn't compare, he missed lollipops. And the new vet didn't even pull out the sugar, he was all grumpy and dragging at your limbs, he never asked you to do something, almost as if he assumed that the cows couldn't understand his orders. 

Nobody was ever angry in the dream, even though hurting himself was all his own fault. Even though he should have known better. And sometimes at night when he’d wake up cold, he imagined that dream and came home. 

Home, where mom put him to bed and told him a bedtime story. Daddy would give him a big kiss for being so brave and Mac painted a flower on his cast while Josh carried his own television to Jensen’s room, so Jensen could watch his cartoons in bed until mom brought him cookies and milk and peeled Jensen’s orange for him while Mac fell asleep besides him.

He’d fight the urge to fall asleep, fight it for ages, but then his eyes would fall shut and he’d blink and then… he’d open his eyes to find them looking back at Jared and he wouldn’t be able to escape again. Jared wouldn’t let him.

Right now, he was breaking part from the inside out, his nerve ends were burning so bad that he wished Jared would just let him die. He was still shuddering from the shocks Jeff had given him and then Jared had placed a finger in him, one, then another, and a third, and by the time he finally put his entire hand inside of Jensen, nails scratching the inside of him, Jensen wished he was dead. It had been huge, bigger than anything Jensen had ever had inside of him before, as if the man wanted to tear him apart from the inside out. 

It made him want to scream, to beg for mercy, to make him promise Jared that he'd do whatever Jared wanted him to if he'd just stop. To make promises of being good, but none of them were heard. It was better to just hold his arm and imagine that that’s where the pain came from. That if he kept his eyes closed and stayed asleep, Josh would be sitting next to him, and Mac would be there.Mom and dad would be downstairs, baking cookies, watching television, looking after them. Because if Jensen opened his eyes, if he woke up now, he’d be back with Jared and the pain would start all over again.

A voice sounding like Josh kept telling him to wake up, that everything was alright now, that he had to open his eyes and stay awake. But it was a lie, Jensen knew it was a lie, no matter how tempting, a lie that tried to fool him into coming out of hiding, so that he’d be back in the real world for Jared to hurt. 

“Please Jensen, please wake up.” Josh’s voice pleaded. Jensen didn’t want to. “Please, little bro, I can’t lose you now.”

And every second the urge to sleep grew worse, the urge to fade into the black, to just give up once and for all, let the dream be his heaven and never ever have to face the real world again.

Jensen blinked. 

He blinked and the room faded away. Gone were his posters of Superman, gone where his cartoons, or the cowboy wallpaper. And up came a metal wall, noises and lights. Two men working around him, saying stuff he didn’t quite understand. Numbers and weird words, making him break out in terror, looking around, scared, where was Jared? Because as scared as he was of Jared, at least he knew what to expect of him.

Something, someone had his hand. He looked up and Josh was there. Jensen blinked again, he was still dreaming, but it wasn’t ‘his’ dream. Yet no matter how much he blinked, Josh was still sitting there, holding his hand.

“Oh god Jensen.” Josh almost fell over him, hugging him. 

Jensen kept turning around, staring around, desperate to find the cracks in the dream, to see the truth behind the lie. Hoping for something real to hang on to. Josh smelled wrong. He wasn't supposed to smell so... human.

“Mister Ackles, I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to get out of the way.”  
Josh sat up, and seemed hesitant. 

“I promise, you can be with him right after, but the doctors need to get to him first.”

Jensen didn’t want Josh to go, didn’t want his dream to fade.

“I promise, I’ll be back.” And then Josh’s hand slipped out of his, and Jensen felt something placed on his face, covering his mouth and nose, like a full bit that wouldn't even let him eat or serve. Air rushed in, forcing him to breath it in, he wanted to fight, but they were all strangers and what would Jared or Jeff do if he fought. Fighting was bad, so he let himself be pulled into the dark. Falling into sleep.

When he woke back up, he was in another room, there was a cloth lying over him. He tried to move his hand, rub it through his eyes and wake up.

“Get that damn chain off of him.” One woman said, another came closer. 

“Doctor, I think he’s waking up.” The next moment a woman leaned over him, smelling of human, he tried to pull away, but she kept saying that everything was alright, as he faded back into the black. 

He woke up next in a big room, in a bed, under the sheets. Too soft by far, but nobody to serve. Was this Chad's rooms? He wouldn't know, he hadn't been there yet. Sunlight shone through large windows. There were balloons and drawings surrounding his bed. Stuffed animals covering every surface in the room and cards hung down from wires all around him. Too many colors, like being outside in the sun on a soft patch of grass. Only drier and warmer.

It wasn't until Jensen tried to crawl out of the bed, that he realized he was wearing clothes. A shirt with cartoon animals and soft pants that touched his skin as if caressing it.

Jensen’s heart raced inside his chest, beating harshly, throwing itself up against his throat. What if Jared saw him like this. What if Chad came in and found out he was pretending to be human? He desperately started pulling on the shirt, trying to get it off before someone saw him. But he couldn’t get his hands high enough to get it off, the most he managed was to pull one arm through its sleeve and locking himself even tighter into the shirt.

He couldn’t even manage to bend over far enough without getting dizzy to start up on removing the pants. Getting out of the bed was harder than he’d imagined it would be as well. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he fell to his knees, even as he managed to get away from the sheets. There was something in his arm, holding him back, he stared at it, there was some kind of fluid entering him. Jensen didn’t dare to pull it out, what if Jared was angry if he did. His head hurt, and it wasn't until a few seconds later that he realized an alarm had gone off.

The sounds drew a woman into the room, instantly followed by Josh. 

“Jensen.” Jensen desperately tried not to listen to his name. He wasn’t Jensen anymore, Jared had said so, he’d be angry if Jensen listened to it. Jensen suddenly flashed back to the old factory, to Jared calling him Jensen. Was Jensen his stable name? He wasn’t sure. He fell to his knees, hoping for forgiveness. 

“Oh God, Jensen, it’s alright, you’re safe.” Jensen didn’t dare look up. But Josh pulled him back up on the bed, freed his arm and sat beside him.  
“I’m so sorry, I only went out for a second. Oh God, I’m so sorry.”

Josh wouldn’t let him get to his knees, wouldn’t let him do anything other than to lie down and sleep. 

Jensen obeyed, but he couldn’t sleep. Josh didn’t seem to care, he crawled on top of the bed with Jensen, holding Jensen. Jensen wished he had a way to let Josh know that he wanted to be good and do what he was supposed to, but he couldn’t get his body to cooperate. Josh didn’t seem to mind, he just whispered to Jensen that he was safe and that everything was going to be fine now.

Jensen didn’t realize he’d fallen asleep until the door slammed open and Mac came running into the room. Two of their cousins that Jensen only remembered from a wedding a few years ago, were right behind her. Mac jumped on the bed with Josh and Jensen. Josh tried to tell her to calm down, but Mac wasn’t listening. She was talking so fast and spirited that Jensen didn’t catch even half of what she was saying. Kinda like Daisy when he got excited and desperate to show you something, only his hands moved so fast and his eyes twitched that it became impossible to follow what he was going on about. 

What Jensen did catch was Mac hugging him and telling him they were never letting him go ever again. And oh yes, that they now had a dog called Harley who was the most awesome dog that ever existed. Jensen wondered if Harley was soft, and if he’d share. He hoped the dog did. Maybe Josh would let him sleep with the dog, he didn’t think that Josh had a stable. And it was cold sleeping outside.

Jensen wished he knew where the others were. Why he wasn’t with them. He started crying when he remembered what happened to Thumper. Josh started asking what was wrong, but Jensen couldn’t bring himself to get past the silence. 

Mac gave him her bear. It was silly, she was ten, he was older, eleven, Jared had said. Elven was full grown and way too old for a bear. But when she gave it to Jensen, he couldn’t help hugging it close. He needed Thumper, Thumper would know what to do, but Thumper was blood in the stable.

Jensen placed his hand on Josh’s, trying to tell him to stop worrying. But Josh didn’t understand.

Jensen hugged Mac’s bear, he couldn’t help thinking the bear was familiar. It wasn’t until he fell asleep that he realized it used to be his. Before.

He liked this dream.

 

******

 

When he got booked, there were cameras everywhere around him. The lights flashing quickly hurt his eyes, but no one seemed to care about that.He had his finger prints taken, his DNA imprinted in the system and his picture taken for the files.

After a quick hearing, Jared was turned over to the county until trial. The police department didn't think they could handle him because of the complications of the press, so he was handed over to the county jail instead.

Prison was harder than he'd expected it to be. Sure he'd heard the stories, but mostly he hadn't ever thought about it much. He hadn't realized that the thing that bothered him the most, was getting locked in alone at night. He hadn't been alone at night since he inherited the farm. The room was too quiet without a cow in his bed.

They kept him separate from the rest of the prisoners at first. Locked him up in isolation. Bare room with not much more than a bunk, a desk, chair, toilet and TV. The guard said he should call himself lucky he got that much. Jared figured it was because they didn’t really know what to do with him, the lawyers were still wondering about the charges the authorities could put up against him.

There was murder of course, that one was simple.

He still couldn’t quite grasp what he’d done to Jeff. Killing the man who'd been like a father to him, who 'had' been his father. He kept seeing Jeff's face, kept connecting it to a woman he barely even remembered and moments with Gerald Padalecki that had been particularly... hard.

Funnily enough, his lawyer said they were planning to charge him with several other murders as well, especially of some guy called Matt Bomer. It wasn’t until the lawyer said the date of the ‘crime’, that Jared realized they were talking about Thumper. He'd never bothered to look up the Alpha's former name, now they told him that the cows parents were suing him in a civil court suit, as well as the criminal one.

"That’s ridiculous." He’d said. "Animal abuse, sure, that I’d get, but the thing was only a cow."

The lawyer glared at him, and seemed to be seconds away from leaving without another word. Jared could see the way the man's hands went white as they tensed around the paperwork that he'd made Jared sign earlier.

“Mister Padalecki, you may have missed it, but the president herself declared a statement only last week, that all Ambrosia Cows are to be considered as human under the law. Therefore any crime committed to any of them, is equal to that committed against a human being as well. Whether they were considered human at the time of the crime or not."

“You’ve got to be kidding me.They can't do that. I never broke the law, not until Jeff." Jared's fist hit the table, catching the attention of the guards standing outside. They glared at him and Jared continued in a lower voice. "They can't just change the law and then apply it on things that happened before..."

The lawyer, some young hot shot from Houston didn't move, but Jared could see that he was biting his lips to stop him from saying something. As if he was counting in his head before continuing.

"I didn't do anything wrong." Jared insisted. And that was enough to break the dam as the lawyer threw the folders down on the desk.

“You didn't?" the man's voice was trembling. "You’re lucky, I was even willing to take this case. You think it's unfair, that you're somehow being mistreated?" He didn't get up from his chair, but it was clear that that was only due to an extreme display of control on his side. "The law is going to throw the book at you. And if I have to take a guess, your case is going to be held as a benchmark for the way all other farmers will be treated as well." Jared tried to think of some of his friends, many of whom wouldn't last a day in prison. Not that he thought he could handle things that much better.

"Right now they’ve got you on two murders for sure, if they start looking back, they’ll probably hold you accountable for the death of any man or child that died on your farm while you were in charge. I’m still hoping they won’t count those as homicides. In fact, you'd better pray they don't."  
But how could they? Sure, cows had died on his farm, several of them had to be put down, because they were sick, unable to care for themselves. You couldn't keep sick cows around. What were they going to do? Go after every vet that ever assisted in taking down an already dying animal? Was it that much worse for them to die a quick death than to linger over the course of weeks or months?

"Then there’s child abuse, rape of a minor in your custody, intentionally feeding a proved to be dangerous and lethal drug to both minors and adults, for every single cow, every single person you owned, and that’s just the start of it. So if I were you, I’d calm down, get very very remorseful and pray that the judge won’t allow too many crimes to be pinned on you retroactively.”

“But can’t we… make some kind of deal.” Dangerous drug? What? The only thing, Jared could think of was Nectar. But Nectar was a legal drug, everybody knew it was required to get the cows to catalyze Ambrosia.

“Mister Padalecki, Jared, they’re not going to make a deal." It was the least spiteful thing the lawyer had said to him since he came in. Jared was about to do something, anything, to just demand why this was happening? He'd followed the law, he'd treated his cows well. Why were they attacking him like this? "The District Attorney is planning to make his name on this case. The entire country is watching to see how this turns out. You’ll be lucky if you get out of it without a death sentence.” But Jared had followed the law, he'd done what he was supposed to do, he didn't deserve this. It was all thathe could think of. 

“Is that what you’re doing?” Jared asked. “Trying to make a name?”Using Jared's misfortune, Jared's suffering to his own ends.

It was as if the man, who's name Jared hadn't quite caught, could read his mind and wasn't liking it one bit. 

“If I were out to make a name, I wouldn’t get within ten feet of your case. I’m here because even scum like you has a right to a lawyer, and you should be incredibly happy with that, cause there aren’t many lawyers in this state, or in this country, willing to take the likes of you for a client.”

“You have no right…” Jared started.

The lawyer leaned up towards him, anger rolling off of him in waves.  
“You raped hundreds of children, Padalecki. You murdered several of them when they got sick or too old. You personally raped the brother of America’s favorite hero, the very fact that I’m representing you, has my own mother refusing to even talk to me. So if I were you, I’d keep my mouth shut, and do whatever I tell you. Because you’re not likely to find anyone more willing to defend you in court.” And the worst part of it was that Jared could see he was right. It would be easy to think the man was lying, that Jared could just fire him and get some lawyer who didn't see him as the filth of the world. But it had taken him days before he got this one willing to go to bat for him. And even then only because they had to give him one. The court appointed lawyer before hadn't even wanted to be in the same room with Jared. 

Jared flinched back at the man’s clear disgust. 

He wanted to protest, to say he’d never hurt, or raped a child. But the lawyer glared at him before he could even open his mouth. Cows weren’t children. But it was obvious that even this man was one of those Ackles had converted and would never understand. Was there anyone left who wasn't?

“There’s one thing I’ve been wondering about," the lawyer said as he put his papers back in his briefcase. "If you really believed that those children you raped weren’t human, if you really thought those were animals. Then what the hell where you doing, fucking them. Isn’t sex with animals at least as bad as sex with children?”

The lawyer was gone before Jared could come up with an answer to that. He wanted to say it was different, that they looked human, so there was nothing sick about it. But he already knew ahead of time that the lawyer would only roll his eyes at that. He still didn't have a real answer, one the man might actually have listened to by the time the guards put him back in his cell.

It was a few days later when the guards decided it was time for him to join the rest of the prison population. Jared wasn’t sure why, but he guessed it had something to do with the news talking about how Josh Ackles brother was still barely clinging to life. Jensen by then had been in a coma for over a week. The newscasters blamed Jared for it. Jared couldn’t see how. He hadn’t hurt the cow that badly. It had been Jeff who'd done most of the damage. Hadn't he protected his cow, hadn't he...

The news kept showing images of cows being freed from the farms and factories, endless images of faces, eyes looking at people, expecting to be hit, turning away from the cameras. Jared couldn't remember his own cows looking that bad, had they? The news talked about how most of the cows were temporarily housed at overly stuffed broodmare shelters, at schools and community centers, at local gyms and even some hotels that opened their doors for the former cows. Temporary shelters used until the authorities found people capable of taking care of them on a longterm basis. In many cases, the parents that had sold them were declared unsuitable guardians, no matter how much they begged the courts to get their children back. 

It was only the ones who'd struggled to keep their kids from getting sold, that were allowed to take their sons back home. The AAM and groups like them took care of most of the lost and forlorn, providing people to care for the former cows, former veterinarians that had turned against the system years ago. Amateurs thinking they knew what cows needed. 

Jared wondered how long it would take them to realize how much harm freeing that many animals had really done. 

It still didn’t stop people glaring at him, the moment he was turned out amidst the rest of the prisoners. It didn't stop the prisoner in charge of the lunch line from spitting in his food right in front of him. Nor did it make the guards give a fuck when they saw prisoners shove him, or throw stuff at him. 

The worst part was the way his body reacted to the lack of Ambrosia. He'd never been without at least a few drops a day since he hit his twenties, and being forced to detox full stop sent him into cold shivers. It made him feel exhausted, ready to drop at any second, and even when he told the guards about it, they just laughed, spit at him and told him it was the least of what he deserved.

He already felt like he was dying, shivering, breaking out in fevers that lasted a few minutes and had him thinking he was freezing to death seconds later. And then things got worse when a group of his fellow inmates cornered him in the yard, Two of them holding him while a third beat the crap out of him. Several more stood back, kept an eye on the guards to make sure they weren't about to interfere.

Jared went down, his hand moved to his mouth, felt the bleeding.  
“Why?” They didn’t seem to care. “I didn’t do nothing to you.” It only gave him another kick to the face, while the third guy knelt beside him and grabbed his face.

The man was huge, over a head taller than Jared himself. His arms and chest, what Jared could see of it at least, were covered in tattoos. He looked like a grizzly bear with rabies, but when he started talking, his voice was soft and broken.

“I had a little boy. Stevie. Best thing that ever happened to me. His mom was a slut, but Stevie, he made sleeping with her worth it. He was smart, funny. I'd go see him once a week, threw his mother the money she needed for him. She was good at that at least, took care of him, loved him. Bitch might have been a whore, but she was a damn good mom. He was going to be someone, best in his class, stayed out of trouble. He was worth a dozen of me. Then I ended up here cause I beat the crap out of some bastard that messed up my car. Court said I had to pay the fees for the damage I did to that guy. So sure, I get that, I did wrong. What I don’t get is that they took my kid to pay for the damages. Took him to one of those farms like yours. That was ten years ago. He would have been nineteen tomorrow. Instead he died at thirteen, because some monster like you thought he was nothing more than a toy. I didn’t even know until three days ago. So you tell me why I shouldn’t take out every bit of grief and pain I got about that on slime like you?”  
The man's eyes were tearing up by the time he finished talking, none of the men around him seemed to even think to mock him about it. 

Jared couldn't even begin to keep track of what happened after that as the giant started kicking him, hitting him with everything he got. By the time Jared woke up in the infirmary, he wasn’t even sure where he was. The guards put him back in isolation after that.


	17. Chapter 17

It was easier to get used to the hospital than Jensen had thought it would be. He had to stay in his room, which was bigger than his booth. Doctors would come in to check up on him and just expect him to do as they told him to, no questions asked. And most of all, the food was just about as bad, except for small treats that Josh and Mac gave him. 

For the most part, the nurses seemed nice. One of them, an older woman, had gotten annoyed with him once when she'd put him in bath and he'd kept still. He hadn't known what was expected of him. Back on the farm, Chad and Chris would have punished him if he'd tried to wash himself. But the woman almost got pissed and thought he was being lazy. Until she threw the sponge at him, and he let it hit, bowing his head, desperately praying for her to stick to that, terrified she'd pull out the cane next.

She suddenly looked at him. She was the only one of the nurses that seemed to look at him without pity, except for that time. And then she gave him the sponge and started teaching him how to wash himself. It wasn't that he didn't remember, but the way she did it, the direct orders and commands, made it easier to see it as one of the new rules. Of being told he had to wash himself. It was easier to follow new rules, than to be told he no longer had to follow the old ones. 

She said her name was Janice, but that he was supposed to call her nurse Thompson. Jensen didn't call her anything out loud, but he tried to remember the name in his head. He was too scared to refuse her.

Josh kept having arguments with Jensen's doctor. The man had said before that he wasn't an expert on Ambrosia Cows, which was why Miss Tinny mostly dealt with Jensen's issues. Officially though, she was just an adviser, being a veterinarian, Miss Tinny wasn't supposed to have any say on anything dealing with humans. Jensen remembered her, she used to come to the farm. Until one day Jared brought the new vet with him. Josh said that Miss Tinny got disgusted with the abuse at the farms and had joined the AAM. She was now one of the few vets that were allowed to get anywhere near cows like Jensen. Which meant she only had limited time to spend with Jensen, or at the hospital in general. 

Josh said that Miss Tinny wouldn't be giving him so much trouble in getting Jensen to come home with him. Jensen hoped he was right. 

The first time Josh had talked about home, Jensen had backed away. Terrified that they were sending him back to the farm. It took Josh several days before Jensen believed him when he said they weren't taking him back to the farm. That home meant Josh's new place, where Josh and Mac lived in the city. Home, said MacKenzie, was a yellow house in a row of red and brown. Home was three bed rooms. One for Mac and Jensen, one for Josh's bodyguards and one for Josh. Home was a kitchen where Josh made pancakes in the morning, and Spaghettios in the evening. 

Josh never mentioned mom and dad, and Jensen couldn't bring himself to ask. But when Josh talked of home, Jensen couldn’t wait to get out of here, away from all the strangers who looked at him with mixed pity and disgust in their eyes. People in the halls, that he could see staring at him, as they passed by when one of the nurses left the door open long enough for them to realize what he was. Nurses moving from one job to another, acting all chipper, but unable to look him in the eyes.

The doctors didn't agree with Josh. They kept saying that Jensen was too weak, that he needed more time to heal. That after surgery, he’d been in a coma for almost a week and that he needed time to recover, even if there hadn’t been any brain damage. It made Jensen want to laugh, he’d been through a lot worse than he felt now, and on his feet the next day. There’s no way that Jared would have put up with any of the cows being this useless for so long. Not that Jensen would ever dare say so out loud. He knew better than to talk, talking was for humans. He didn’t even need his bit to remind him of that anymore. 

Not that that stopped Josh. Jensen stared with wide open eyes as his brother kept trying to make him do things that weren’t allowed. Wearing clothes, lying on beds, day after day, even when he wasn’t serving anyone. Eating food with his hands. Taking a piece of meat and slowly nibbling it, as if it were a tomato or a grape. Josh treated each of those moments as if they were the break through that would get Jensen to come home with him. 

It scared Jensen at times, the look on Josh’s face, the first time his brother had watched Jensen go for his plate like he was supposed to. It made Jensen wonder what Josh would do when he realized that Jensen wasn't who Josh thought he was. What would Josh say if he ever accepted that Jensen wasn't like him, wasn't Jensen anymore. 

But no matter how bad Jensen got, no matter how stupid he was in trying to understand anything, Josh seemed so happy whenever Jensen broke the rules, and so sad when Jensen hit a clear roadblock telling him to stop and do as he was supposed to.

Josh would hold him, he'd tell Jensen that tomorrow would be better, that they had time. But time for what? 

It took over two weeks after he woke up, before they pulled out the tube they'd put in his hand. Let him take his drugs as pills instead of a liquid injected in the bag they'd put him on.

With the worst of the pain medication gone, things were clearer. More boring. Jensen missed Daisy and Dapper and the others. He missed Thumper.  
It’s not like he wasn’t used to boring, milking time was boring, except for the constant pressure, demanding more more more…but he usually dreamed during those times. He used to dream of home, in the hospital, with Josh and Mac around, it got hard at times to keep the two dreams apart.

In the hospital, there were constant noises, people walking around, smells of humans everywhere. Smelly ones, that made his nose twitch just being around them, hidden ones that covered themselves with the smell of flowers or spices that only made their stench worse, making him weary, ready to kneel down and beg for mercy because of whatever he was doing wrong. 

Yet no one ever came to punish him. A strange woman came to talk to him every few days. She said her name was Gen, that she was here to help him. He didn't know how to feel about her. He just knew she smelled weird, kind of like Jared did. Not right, not beta, but not wrong either. It was confusing. 

The first time she came in, she just sat there. Her hands in her lap, at the other side of the room. She didn't speak then, just waited for him to do something, who knows what she was waiting for him to do. In the end, he'd fallen asleep, and by the time he woke up again, she was gone.

She didn't return until two days later. That time she gave him coloring pencils and a piece of paper. He didn’t dare touch them. 

the paper was still empty when she came back the next time. She didn't even seem surprised. She took the pencils with her and left. The paper stayed on the table. When she got back, it was covered in circles from plates and glasses. 

It was only when she left him alone with three pots, one blue, one red and one yellow and a big paper that she placed on the floor, that he dared to climb out of the bed and sit down to look at what she'd left him with. He had to put his nose close to it, to smell what it was, wondering if it was something to eat. He finally put his finger in it like Josh preferred him to do with food, but when he lifted it to his mouth, it didn't taste too good. 

He felt silly as his paint covered fingers moved across the paper and he realized what it was that she'd left him with. He put his hand down and pulled back in shock when he noticed his hand print. He kept looking around, expecting for someone to come in and punish him. But when the nurse came in and saw the hand print, she just smiled, and helped him wipe his hand, before he got even more of it on the sheets. It took Jensen three more days before he dared to play with the paint again. Gen hadn't returned. 

His hands unconsciously moved to create the stable. Red for the wood, yellow mixed with blue for the grass, and blue for the cows.

Jensen, Daisy, Dapper and Thumper. 

They looked like stick figures. Stick figures with big round heads, and a triangle meaning their bits.

When he saw the image of Thumper, he pressed his hand in the red and pushed it on top of the the older cow's figure. Thumper was gone. He did it again, and again. Until he grabbed the yellow and the blue, adding it to the red and drawing Jared’s face. Red eyes and angry mouth and whip that hurt. 

When Josh came in, he saw Jensen sitting on top of the paper, his clothes covered in paint and Jensen winced, scared of what Josh would say. But Josh just hugged him, he didn’t seem to care that over half of his nice white shirt ended up covered in red.

“What’s that?” Josh asked when he pointed out the stable, Jensen had tried to put the image of the brand on top of the stable, but he figured it wasn’t too clear.

“Is that the farm?” Close enough, Jensen guessed, so he nodded. “The one who died, was he… was he a friend of yours?” Jensen nodded again. Once again putting his hand on the paper, resting his weight on both, lowering his face, looking at the image of Jared, kneeling for him. “I’m sorry he died, Jensen. I’m so sorry. But the others are fine. I promise. The AAM is looking after them. Some of them will even go back home to their families, as soon as we’ve checked to make sure that were leaving them with people who can be trusted."

Would their moms and dads want them back? Jensen's parents hadn't wanted him, if they had, they'd be here, with Josh and Mac, wouldn't they?

Jensen tried to draw a picture of a flower over the figure of Daisy. But Josh didn’t get it. 

“if you want, I’ll take you to see them, as soon as the doctor clears you to leave. Would you like that. “ 

Jensen looked up and smiled, ready to get up and leave right this second. 

“I’m taking that as a’ ‘yes’.” Jensen was glad that he could make his brother smile, Josh needed to smile more. But he was always sad, when he thought Jensen wasn’t watching. Jensen wished he could tell him and Mac how much he’d missed them. How the only thing that helped him get through the worst, was knowing that whenever Jared really hurt him, it was because Josh was fighting to get to him. That Josh still cared, that Josh was out there, thinking of him. Knowing that made it easier to hang on, even if he’d never believed that Josh would actually win.

Jensen looked at the paper that was fully smothered by now. Josh picked it up, went to the table and grabbed another one, putting that one down in front of Jensen instead. Jensen stared at it for a moment, before putting his hand in the red, drawing a figure of himself. He wasn’t sure how to ask. What he could ask. Then he figured he’d draw a big belly, like one of the nurses had, before drawing a smaller figure inside of it. 

“Who’s that Jensen?”

Jensen pressed the still paint covered hand on himself, before pointing at the stick figure representing the baby, his baby. He just wanted to know what was going to happen to his baby now. 

 

******

 

They came to get him during breakfast. Tepid mashed potatoes, with fried sausages and carrots. All of which smelled foul and it was without a hint of regret that he left them behind. 

His lawyer had been by the day before. So it wasn't him. The man didn't like him, no that was wrong, the man detested him, but he was pulling out all the stops, trying to keep the courts from pushing through retroactive punishments. The man said they had little or no chance to get him off for Jeff, or Thumper, nor for taking Jensen with him when he left, but that they still stood a chance to stop the courts from punishing him for things that were only now becoming illegal. 

Jared hated the uncertainty, he hated what the prison cooks most likely did to his meals before handing them over to the guards. Spit was the least he had to worry about these days. But he'd learned a long time ago, that even if things were bad now, they would get better, eventually. He'd just have to wait, and hope to be vindicated in the end. When he told his lawyer this, the man told him he was a fool, right before telling him that he'd ordered a shrink to check up on Jared in a few days. Jared had no idea what good that was supposed to do, but he wasn't about to try and argue. Arguing only seemed to piss people off even more.

Prisoners glared at him as the guards brought him past. Even with the bars in between him and them, Jared could feel their hate, he could see the ones that pretended to shoot themselves, or slice their own throats. Clear threats of what they'd do to him if they got their hands on him.

Only two days ago, the guards had left him alone in the shower, a couple of prisoners had managed to get in long enough for them to push Jared up against the wall. He'd tried to fight, but there were too many of them. He was naked, and they kept shouting at him, hitting him, telling him they were going to make him feel what his cows must have felt like. His mind kept him trapped, made him hear his father's voice over and over. _"Stay still, do as told, it'll be over soon."_ When the guards stormed in to stop them, Jared wished he could have screamed, but the very thought of it hadn't even entered his mind. 

The prisoners backed off, got sent to solitary, and the guards told Jared to get up and get dressed. They said they didn't need to see his naked body any more than they had to. Jared had felt embarrassed as he grabbed his shirt, underwear and pants, dragging it on over his still naked flesh, feeling it cling. 

They pushed him into the closed off visiting room, the one used mostly for the actual convicts. Jared had no idea what the added security was for, but then again, so far the only one who'd been over to see him, had been his lawyer.

Jared sat down at the table. He was surrounded by synthetics. He missed home, the natural wood of his tables and desk, and the beams on the ceiling. Compared to the farm, this place felt fake. Plastic tables, steel chairs, looking up at enforced armed glass and two syntherubber dividers, that would normally keep him apart from the prisoners next to him, if there had been any, he knew the kind, strong enough to hold back an elephant in a rampage. It was the same material he'd used for his cows booths, sturdy and incredibly easy to clean.

The room was cleared out, except for him and two of the guards standing at the door behind him. He knew there was a microphone and a speaker in the small plate of metal in front of him that would carry his voice over to his visitor and the other way around. 

And then he was left waiting. Tapping his fingers on the table, his feet felt restless as he worried what was going on.

He’d been waiting for five minutes before the door opened, Four guards came in before his … visitor. 

Joshua Ackles looked smaller in real life, than he did on the holo vids. Just an eighteen year old, not even full grown. Not particularly attractive, but not ugly either. Not like Jensen who was beautiful, Josh was just... normal. He was clean shaved, dressed in a suit that seemed more expensive than Ackles was comfortable with. Just a kid walking in a man’s shoes. It was hard to imagine that this was the face that had pulled the country, no, the entire world, into insanity.

Jared remembered how Jeff had told him he should have been scared of Ackles. But even now, Jared found it hard to do so. It was too easy to remember the kid, the scrawny teenager, to see that childish arrogance of calling him out, in the eyes of the boy standing before him now. 

Ackles stared at him for a moment before sitting down, placing a folder in front of him. He didn’t speak, didn’t stare, but didn’t look away either. There was something in the way he sat, a kind of restraint that Jared simply wasn’t accustomed to in anyone, let out a boy that age.

“They say you were attacked.” Ackles finally said. 

Jared was taken off balance, he’d figured the kid would start yelling at him about how he’d ‘raped’ Jensen, or some other nonsense like that. Jared didn’t bother answering what was a statement, rather than a question. 

“I’ve been following your case.” Ackles continued. “They tell me that you’re being charged with every crime you’ve committed since you became a farmer.”

Jared shrugged, it would be useless to talk about how unfair all of it was. About how he hated that everyone was going after him, even though he’d never broken a law in his life, not until he killed Jeff. He flashed back to the knife sticking out of Jeff’s chest, at seeing the blood flood out of the wound, the way his eyes glazed over.

“I should be happy with that. You’re getting all you deserve for what you’ve done, to Jensen, to those other kids. But whenever I think about the way they’re charging you, all I can think of is how they’re just using you, people like you as scapegoats.”

Jared startled at that. He hadn’t expected that.

“You’re a monster, nothing will ever convince me otherwise. But you were only the offshoot of the system. You’d never have been able to do the things you did, if the law didn’t bend over to let you. If parents didn’t sell their children, if judges didn’t hand over innocent lives to scum like you to do with as you wished. If retailers and merchants didn’t earn high profits out of your product and if the general public hadn’t demanded what you had to offer. Yet all of those are now getting away blameless, pretending they didn’t know. And that’s wrong. Just so wrong.”

“What do you want Ackles?”

“What do I want?"Ackles straightened up, closed his eyes for a second. "I want my brother to be the kid he was before my parents sold him. I want the millions of children hurt by the ambrosia industry to get their lives back. I want none of this to have ever happened. “ Josh answered. “I want every last person on the world who profited from Ambrosia to pay for their sins, I want people to realize what they did wrong. I want the world to be, what I thought it was as a child, instead of all this… gray.”

Jared rolled his eyes at that. “What do you want from me?” He leaned back in his chair, as far as the damn thing would allow, it wouldn't move, too booted down to the floor. Guess they didn't want people to try and use the chairs to bust through the windows.

Ackles stared at the folder in front of him and opened it, pulling out a single sheet of paper. He seemed so precise about it, as if it was the paper that would give him everything he wanted in the world. But when he opened it up, Jared could see that all there was on it, was a drawing, broad lines and strokes. Ackles pushed it through the small slit at the bottom of the glass, barely high enough to allow one, or at most two papers to pass through.   
Jared took a look at the paper and inspected it. 

It was a child’s drawing, lots of colors, mixing of colors. A dark image of a face with long hair and an angry glare barely covering a few smaller images underneath of three stick figures. Someone had drawn the face on top of other drawings. Jared wasn’t sure if he could make It out.

“That’s how my brother sees you, you realize that. As the angry monster that terrifies him, even now.”

Jared hadn’t even considered that Jensen might have drawn anything. Jensen was a cow, cows don’t draw, don’t express themselves through anything other than their bodies. They were sensual beings, responsive to the least touch, but they weren't meant for more than that. They knew their place, they had to, how else could they be happy?

“My cows never needed to fear me. I took care of them.” He said with all the conviction he could muster. 

Ackles looked at him, a moment of understanding in his wide open eyes. “You don’t get it, do you, not even now? How can you be like this? You terrorized those children." Ackles hand was shaking on the table in front of him, he pulled it down on his lap, out of Jared's sight. "There isn’t one that isn’t filled with horror at the idea of ever seeing you again, of being forced to return. You’re the monster that keeps them awake at night. How can you not know that?”

“Why would they?” He’d loved his cows, took care of their needs, kept them safe, made sure they knew how much they mattered to him. He’d done everything to make their lives as meaningful as possible, to give them value out of what the world threw at them. Sure, he’d had to discipline them at times. But that’s a part of taking care of your livestock, part of seeing to their safety. If he just let them do as they pleased, they’d have only been unhappy. They would have kept wanting more, wanted a life that they couldn’t have, and what’s the use of letting them dream for something that would never come. Because in the end, hope was the cruelest mistress around.

Ackles sat silent for a second, staring at him in what looked like a mix of pity and disgust. 

“The people will punish you for their own sins, and they will think themselves absolved. They will believe that if only they make you pay hard enough for what all of them allowed to happen, that it will wash them of their sins. And I can’t stop that. I've already tried, but they tell me, that if we want to punish all the guilty, there'd be more people in prison, than that there'd be free."

Jared didn't understand Ackles, the man hated him, had taken everything Jared had and knew and destroyed it. But the way he talked, it confused him. Maybe it was because Ackles was a kid, a naive dreamer who was hoping for fairness where there wouldn't be any. 

"All I can do is tell you one thing and hope it sinks through that thick skull of yours, hopefully heavy enough that maybe one day, some day, you’ll understand just what you did wrong."

Ackles pulled out a second drawing, waited a few seconds before sliding it through the slit in the glass and pushing it towards Jared.

Jared opened the paper and looked at the drawing. There was only one stick figure on this one. Well he figured it was supposed to be a stick figure. It had a head, two arms and two legs and a balloon for a belly with another stick figure in it. 

“Jensen’s pregnant.” Was all that Ackles said as Jared stared at the picture.

Jared let his finger move past the drawing, looking at the image of the calf inside Jensen's belly. He closed his eyes and nodded. He’d been pretty certain before, but it was nice to have it confirmed, even if it made him worry of what would happen to his child now. 

“When Jensen arrived at the hospital, few or none of the doctors knew what to do with him. They had to look up toxicology books first to make sure they didn't give him the wrong drugs. The few vets that switched over to the AAM were swamped and Jensen wasn't the only child in need of their help. 

The lawyers are still waiting to see if the other ones can be charged or not. At the very least, they aren't allowed anywhere near the liberated children. Too many of them helped in murdering your slaves for getting sick. Even the ones that can be trusted did; several of them told me that they're willing to do their time for their sins, that it's past time they pay up for the murders they committed before they saw sense. But we need them, the children need them. It worries me for who'll take care of the children until we finally get some new doctors graduated who actually have a clue what to do for your victims." 

Jared could imagine that, becoming a vet to ambrosia cows took four years until graduation. The next class set to graduate wouldn't be ready for another six months, and anyone who already had, probably was either in trouble with the new laws, or under investigation before being allowed to go anywhere near the cows. It made Jared want to snicker at the lack of forethought, if it weren't for all those poor cows currently suffering because of the lack. 

"The doctors at the hospital, they... they tried their best. They looked after his physical injuries, got him out of his coma. But they didn't know what to look for in his blood to see the indicators. They had it hard enough to find what was normal, natural, and what wasn't. None of them ever studied Alpha or Omega physiology. Not like any farmer would ever bring any of their cows to the hospital, so there was no need. One of them said it was like treating a dog, he had some ideas, but couldn't risk it. I almost wanted to hit the bastard in the face when he said that. I had to remind myself that he didn't mean anything bad with it, he just didn't think."

Jared couldn't see the problem, but then where Ackles was concerned, that was the rule rather than the exception.

"They never even thought to check for pregnancy. hell, Jensen still looks like a boy, except for... for the change below... They didn't dare try for X-rays. They never even considered that he'd be with child. He's only eleven, he's a boy, it didn't enter their minds. They tell me that he's got an entirely different set of organs inside of him. A vagina, a womb, that they tried to think of him as a girl with boy-parts and even then they were more wrong than right. And they still didn't bother to check, because they didn't know how." 

It wasn't that difficult, check for fluids, for slimes at the edges of the vagina, check for behavior, temperature... Even a mere farmer like him could figure it out and all he had was a degree in husbandry and chemistry. 

“Jensen’s too young, he’s only eleven, he's just a baby himself. Male bodies aren’t meant to carry children, and even Omegas should be stronger to carry a child to term.”

Jared puffed at that. “He’ll be fine; I’ve seen Omegas carry a calf to term as soon as they’ reach their first heat. Hell, one my father owned delivered his first calf at age nine.” 

Ackles's mouth fell open in shock, he stared at Jared in disgust. It was a look that was starting to get far too familiar. 

“And how long did the boy survive past said pregnancy.” Was all the kid said, showing how little of a clue about Ambrosia cows that he really had. Of course the Omega survived, it wasn't his father's fault that the cow in question had then died in the course of his next pregnancy. “The doctor wanted to abort the fetus. Said it would be safer for Jensen, healthier, both physically and mentally to end the fetus before it completed the first month. He wanted my permission. I'm Jensen's guardian, I'm supposed to know what to do.”

Jared startled up, looking in fear. “You can’t.” he muttered, wanting to make his claim, tell Ackles that the baby was his, that they couldn’t kill it without his permission, and he wasn’t giving it.

“Jensen overheard us talking.” Josh closed his eyes. “He hadn’t spoken a word since he woke up, hadn’t dared to speak, write, do anything to communicate other than those drawings. But when he heard the doctor say we had to get rid of the pregnancy, he spoke. He begged me not to kill his baby, not to take his baby away from him. Because that’s what you would have done.”

Jared released a breath he didn’t even know he was holding. 

“I shouldn’t have listened to it. The doctor tells me I’m being stupid, criminally negligent even for letting him carry this child, at his age. But it’s Jensen’s choice. It has to be.” Tears started building up in Ackles eyes. “For three years, you took away his every choice, his every right to his own body. You molested him, raped him, abused him, whipped him, did God knows what to him that I can’t even imagine and Jensen can't, or doesn’t dare tell me. But this… it’s so important to him, that he even overcame his fear to speak for it, even if only for long enough to beg me to let him keep the child. I had no choice but to abide by that.”

“What will happen to..” to my son, “to the baby.”

“If I don’t manage to convince Jensen otherwise, and get him to let us end the pregnancy, then… I’ll probably raise him or her, alongside Jensen and Mac. We're family, we look after one another.”

“I can help.” Jared offered, wondering where the Ackles parents stood in that family equation.

“Why, because you think it’s yours?”

“Because it is mine! My son, my property.” He glared at Ackles, daring him to deny it.

“I thought it was," As if Jared had just confirmed a fear that Joshua hadn't dared to express. "Jensen didn’t tell me, didn’t answer when I’ve asked. He’s fallen back into silence. But I knew. Only you would have been sick enough to risk it.”

Risk what? Breeding with his cow before the heat hit in? He knew he should have waited, but Jensen had looked so gorgeous and he'd wanted to prepare the cow for breeding. He'd never even imagined that the cow would give him his heir, not until it happened.

Ackles started getting up, Jared wanted to yell after him, call him a coward for leaving like this. 

“As far as the baby will know, his father’s an Alpha called Misha, the one you called Daisy. As far as our family’s concerned, that’s the only person who’ll ever be acknowledged as that child’s other parent, with any right to see said child if he so desires. Misha offered, or so Jensen let me know. I don't even know how he offered, all I saw was the two of them touching one another, sharing looks, sharing food, and the next thing I know, Misha grabs a paper and some ketchup and draws the word father on it. The kid's amazing." Ackles face cleaned up as he smiled, showing that despite their differences he really was Jensen's brother. 

"Three years at your farm, three years of your torture and he was still willing to write” Josh stood solid, looking far older than his age. “This child will never know the truth, will never have to even think about what kind of monster their progenitor is. He or she will never have to live with the burden of being known as yours.”

Jared sat there, stunned, thinking of his son, living with Ackles, twisted by them, he couldn’t even imagine what kind of life that’d be, couldn’t consider any of it. And for a moment, a part of his heart yelled out ‘thank God’, he wasn’t even sure where that bit of insanity came from. 

When the guards pulled him out of his chair and back to his cell he kept twitching between the one and the other. His child, his baby, his, never.  
And when he sat on his bunk, he cried for the first time in years. He wasn’t even sure if it was grief or joy, just tears.


	18. Chapter 18

The first time Josh had taken Jensen to the shelter, Josh had been nervous and acting like a motherhen while Jensen was excited. Josh was worried that Jensen wouldn't have been able to handle seeing the others from the stable. But really, of all the things at the farm, his fellow cows were the only things Jensen had missed.

Since then, visiting the shelter had become more and more of a regular thing. To Jensen, it was a bit like coming home whenever Josh would drop him off. 

Not everyone who'd been at the stable would still be there. Jensen was happy for all of those who'd managed to find family able and willing to take them back. But he still missed them. Some had had one parent who hadn't agreed with the sale, but hadn't had the money to stop it, or an uncle, grandparent or even a sibling who were desperate to get them back. 

The shelter was pretty big, five floors , the top two of which were mostly used for sleeping places. The caretakers kept apologizing over the lack of privacy in the rooms shared with five or more. But Jensen knew that for most of them, the shared accommodations made it easier to adjust. At least they could still hear one another's breathing when the lights went out. It was one of the things Jensen had missed the most in the hospital. If it weren't for Mac, he wasn't sure he'd even be able to sleep back at Josh's place due to the silence.

Dapper and Daisy, or Richie and Misha, as he’d learned their real names were, were still at the shelter. Had been since the farm was liberated. Josh said that when the cops came, Chad had still been screaming. Something had scared him, yet from what Josh said, none of the cows had touched the man. He was in some clinic now. Jensen didn't care, long as he never ever had to see the human again for as long as he lived.

Chris had turned state evidence, working with the cops, telling them everything that happened a the farm. Josh said he would still have to go to prison. Everyone who worked at the farms, and didn't do so to help the AAM would. Part of Jensen had wanted to stop Josh, tell him that Chris at least had been nice. He just hadn't had the words. 

Richie’s parents had died when Richie was nine, no one in his family had come to claim him, leaving him up for sale at the Agency. Richie didn’t seem to let it get to him, he never went anywhere without a smile, never got angry, the only time Jensen had seen him with without was when he walked in on him while he was doing the dishes. He'd just turned around, wiped the tears out of his eyes and smiled again when he noticed Jensen. The people at the shelter had a hard time getting Richie to keep his clothes on. He seemed to have a fun time shocking their caretakers, just to see how long it’d take them to get pissed off. So far it didn’t seem to be working. 

And Misha… who knew what was up with him. The doctor told Josh that Misha’s parents sold him the day he turned eight. No real reason why, just that they’d been waiting till he was old enough to make maximum prize and then instead of a birthday party at MacDonald's or at the very least, a piece of cake, he got a trip to the Agency. 

The couple hadn’t even made any attempts to get him back. 

Misha didn’t seem to mind. He was now dressed in a pair of jeans and a shirt, and Jensen and him had rolled around in the grass the first time they saw one another; Misha had offered Jensen a flower and Jensen smiled at him and gave his friend an apple. They were friends, best friends, stable mates, always would be. 

Jensen had seen one of the caretakers make kissy faces at him and Misha once. They'd been playing around, messing up with mud and had then been put under the communal showers. Misha had been splashing at Jensen, and Jensen gave back as good as he got. When they came out, the guy was smiling at them, acting all funny, joking about them being boyfriends now.

The woman in charge, Samantha, rumors said she was a former broodmare, she'd cursed the guy out for that one, lost her temper.It was the first time, Jensen or any of them had seen her angry since they got here. But it didn't matter.

The guy just didn’t get it. Jensen didn’t want to … He didn’t want to do any of those things with anyone, but especially with Misha. It was as if they asked him if he wanted to kiss Josh or Mac, Misha was his stablemate, his brother. It was that more than anything that had hurt the most when Jared made him and Daisy do those things. Because like with Thumper, Daisy meant too much for him to ever want to fuck with him. Not Daisy, Misha, Daisy was gone, had to be gone, Misha now, always Misha.

Three months since the warehouse. Three months with Josh hovering over him, as much as his brother’s schedule would let him. Even if it was far busier than Josh wanted it to be. Jensen got to come to the shelter, while Josh and Mac were at work or school. Josh wanted to try and go to college, but in between the time he spent with Jensen, and the time he spent sitting through meetings for the AAM, visiting talk shows for the AAM, or meeting politicians for the AAM, he barely had enough time for himself to come home and sleep. There were times that Jensen and Mac had to team up on him to get him to just sit down and do nothing but watch what he wanted to see on television, just once. Jensen was worried about Josh, worrying that his brother was burning himself out, but Josh kept saying that there was just so much still to be done. 

Jensen knew that if only he could get himself together, get himself over it, one of Josh’s worries would be gone. But no matter how much he tried, he just couldn’t do it. He wanted to talk, he really did, but except for that one time, it was like something gripped hold of his tongue and throat whenever he tried to get a word out. Josh said not to push it, that it would come with time. But Jensen wanted to be fine now, this instant. He wanted to stop being a burden. And then he'd work himself up over it, and make things worse. It hurt, because Josh never seemed to care how weak Jensen was, how useless Jensen was. Josh would just hold Jensen, let Jensen sob on his shoulder and told Jensen how brave he was. But Jensen didn't feel brave. Not one bit.

Some of the older guys seemed to have it the hardest, but they were stable mates, all of them, and they stuck up for one another. Jensen could see them lying in wait, hesitant to move. One time he’d walked into one of them stroking his cock in the bathroom. The Beta didn’t even stop when Jensen came in. Jensen didn’t look at him, just went to one of the other toilets. The guy finished with a moan and Jensen could feel the easy familiarity between cows build in the air. 

A caretaker came in before the Beta was fully done, blushed and backed out of the bathroom before he caught sight of anything more. Jensen knew the humans had a hard time understanding them. But after years of being milked in public, it was hard to feel embarrassed about anything to do with your body. 

The shelter was nice, there were two living rooms, a humongous kitchen and several storage rooms. There were doors leading everywhere from sleeping rooms and a reading room, to what looked like a classroom, that was now mostly used to help the former cows with ‘art therapy’, or that was what Josh called it. Josh said that the caretakers would do anything to help them get back to normal life, eventually. But Jensen didn’t think it would ever be possible. 

Then again, what did he know? He was just a stupid cow. The caretakers all seemed so sure of themselves. 

This time Misha grabbed Jensen’s hand as soon as he arrived, and pulled him along to the reading room. The room was covered in books, in shelves on the walls, in stacks on the floor, and big letters to play with. Jensen still didn’t dare touch the books, even if most of them were aimed at kids younger than he'd been when he got sold. But Misha kept pulling them out, drawing his fingers around the letters. 

Jensen left him to it, sitting at the window staring outside. The room was isolated so he couldn’t even hear the sound of the cars outside. The shelter was in the middle of the city, but you’d never know that as long you were in the house, or in the gardens, hidden away from the people outside. It’s not that they weren’t allowed to leave the place, they could whenever they chose to do so. But their caretakers preferred if if they at least took someone with them as chaperons if they did so. Too many of them still had panic attacks just dealing with strangers.

Jensen hated to admit that he needed people to deal with the world for him, that they all did. Someone to shield them, to protect them, or to protect the world from their insanity, even if the world woudl never say so.

Jensen stared at the people, dealing with life moving on, to most of them the problems were over. Ambrosia was made illegal and except for those who needed the medicine to live, or who’d lost their jobs thanks to abolition, it would all soon be in the past. The world had changed and everyone moved along with it. And the cows, former slaves, were in here, out of step with everything.

He’d been off nectar for three months now, and unlike the betas in the shelter, his physical changes hadn’t reverted. Jensen didn’t think that Josh had expected them to, because he didn’t seem surprised when Jensen asked him about it, for the baby’s sake. Jensen guessed he should have expected it, Josh wouldn't still ask him, every once and a while if he was certain. He never pressured, never pushed, just left the option out there. But Jensen never took it. The baby was his, part of him, and he couldn't bear to think of it as a thing, like the doctors said. It was a child, his child.

Jensen was still an Omega, would likely be one for the rest of his life. It shocked him how much he’d accepted that by now. But his time as a human boy seemed like another life by now, if he’d lost his Omeganess, the adjustment to being human again, would be weird. He didn’t think he wanted back, not anymore. He didn’t think that Josh understood that. 

Jensen wondered if he'd be able to bring himself to talk to the baby, and if he did, what he'd tell them, what would he say to this kid, that could explain why it didn't have a mother, but two fathers. What Jensen had gone through, and how great the baby's uncle Josh was. He hoped the baby would never have to suffer like he did, like even its other father had before the man became a monster. 

Jensen turned his attention back to the street, not even realizing that his hand had moved to his belly, when he saw her. Mom. She was standing in front of a building on the other side, looking up at the shelter. At first, Jensen thought he’d just imagined her. But then he looked again, and she was still there, her face tilted as if she were looking at him as well. 

Even from here, second floor of the building, he recognized her straight away, her face, the way she did her hair. She was dressed in one of the dresses she used to own for fancy parties at work. It had been fashionable at the time. He remembered her twirling around in it, asking Mac and him what they thought of it. Mac would giggle, and they'd laugh and dance, until Dad came in to tell them it was time. It didn’t seem normal, mom never wore anything that was more than a season out of style. 

She was waving. Just a moment, but it was clear she'd seen him. Jensen gulped and got away from the window. Misha was still looking at the books, especially at one with flowers. Misha loved flowers, loved touching them, loved drawing them with his fingers. Jensen knew that his friend wouldn’t even notice he was gone now. 

Jensen slipped down the stairs and saw that the caretakers were busy in the kitchen, cutting up vegetables and meat. One of the younger calves was helping out, peeling something or other. Josh was coming to pick up Jensen shortly after lunch, so Jensen knew he’d have to hurry if he wanted to see Mom before Josh got here. 

It was weird, Jensen didn’t understand why he wanted to see her. Neither her nor dad had tried to contact Jensen since he was free, and unlike Josh, neither of them had tried to free him while he was at the farm. But maybe they’d been scared, for him, for Josh and Mac’s sake. He needed answers. He wanted to know why, what he'd done wrong, what was wrong with him that they sold him.

He stood still for a moment, staring at the front door, looking back to see if anyone was coming. Two of the alphas were playing a game on the floor in the den, some of the calves were watching cartoons on television. They were still young and new enough, that it was easier for them to come back to normal. Several of them were even talking again. 

Hell, Collin who had his tongue cut out by the Rounders was even learning sign language. Jensen had watched him and one of the caretakers going at it. The caretaker had offered to teach the others as well… but Jensen was a bit hesitant about it all. Misha said he wanted to learn though, so Jensen figured he’d probably come along with Misha when he got his first lessons. Talking to humans, even with his hands might be going a bit too far, but signing at Misha... he could think of it as learning a few new words in the stable's language.

Jensen was just about to open the door when he noticed Richie staring at him from down the hall. Jensen froze, Richie raised his brow, as if to ask if Jensen was sure of what he was doing. Jensen closed his eyes, took control of himself and opened the door. The noise of the city attacked him almost instantly. 

It took him several minutes before he was able to take a step, and another one. When the door fell shut behind him, it took him a moment to realize that he didn’t have a key card to get back in. He also wasn’t wearing the jacket that Josh bought him, and that had his phone in it. Not that he would dare to use it for anything more than the alarm button. He shivered, it was colder out here than he'd expected it to be, but he didn't really mind.

Several people bumped into him, pushing him to the side, or stepping around him, as he stood frozen in front of the door. Mom still stood on the other side of the street. Jensen stared at her, unable to move on. It took him a while before he realized that dad was there as well, standing behind mom, covered in the shadows of the building. He looked big, taller than Josh, but not as big as Jared had been.

Jensen didn't think to look left and right before crossing the street. He ignored the sound of car horns and people yelling at him. Cars shrieked as they stopped inches away from hitting him. Jensen held up his hand to hide from the sun, and the stares, but as soon as he reached the other side, mom pulled him closer towards her, hugging him, as if her life depended on it. Dad just stood there, watching. Jensen was too scared to pull away. 

“Oh God, baby, I’m so sorry.” Mom kept saying, Jensen didn’t want her touching him, but he didn’t want her to let go either. So he just stood there, still as a plate of rock. “Please sweetie, I wanted to come for you, but Josh wouldn’t let us. I swear, we would have come for you as soon as you were free, if it weren’t for him.”

Jensen’s heart was racing, he started looking around, hoping to see Josh’s car driving up to the shelter, yet not wanting mom to let go either. Mom took his hand and led him inside the building, a small diner, dad had already taken a table in the corner, and was looking through the menu when Mom pulled Jensen into the booth and sat down next to him. 

Jensen felt trapped, with his mother in between him and the hallway, he knew he’d have to climb over the table and crawl past Dad to get away. But even that would be hard to do since there was a couple sitting on the other side. 

“We want you to come home, Jensen. We love you, and we want you back home.”

Jensen sat stunned. He remembered wanting to hear those words, especially in those first days at the farm. He remembered dreaming about Mom and Dad pulling into the farm, giving Jared the money back they got for him and saying they changed their minds and wanted Jensen back now.

It had never happened. Not for Jensen. Josh had come, Josh had fought, his parents they just... didn't.

“Please Jensen, why don’t you say something.”   
But Jensen couldn’t talk, couldn’t bring himself to even grunt, not when dealing with these two. 

He pushed himself into the corner, away from Mom, pulling his legs up on the bench, closer to his chest, defending himself as much as he was able to, before bowing his head, refusing to look at them. Jensen was terrified, he wanted Josh, he wanted his brother now. 

“Jensen, answer when your mother asks you something.” Dad said. But it only scared Jensen even more. 

He started rocking in place, a soft whine leaving his lips. 

“Jensen!” Dad hissed his name, he seemed angry. “Don’t, people are starting to stare at us.” Followed, somewhat quieter, but no less harsh.

Jensen could hear someone start approaching them, but all he saw was his feet, and the spots on the floor. 

“For God’s sake, Jensen, you’re not at the farm anymore, behave like a human being. You’re humiliating your mother.”

Jensen didn’t care, he pulled away from his mother’s touch, getting up on the chair, back to the wall, when Mom tried to reach for him, he finally stepped over on the table, back to the window now. Dad tried to grab him, to pull him down. Jensen ran over the table, desperate to get away. When Dad tried to get to him, another man stepped in between him and Jensen.

“I don’t know what you think you’re doing buddy. But I don’t think that kid wants to be with you.” The man wasn't as tall as Dad, he had short cut hair and was wearing glasses. 

“Get out of my way.” Dad growled out. “That’s my son.”

“Seems to me, you’re son is scared as hell of being near you.” The stranger didn't back off. Instead he took a step forward, moving up to Dad, glaring up at him.

Jensen was still backing away and several more people stood up and got between Jensen and his parents. 

“Are you ok, sweetie?” a waitress knelt down next to him, as she asked him this. Jensen pulled away from her as well. Hitting his back to the wall. 

Staring around, trying to find the exit. 

“Jensen please.” Mom begged him. “We just want to take you home.”

Jensen wanted to scream, but he couldn’t, he wanted to run, but he couldn’t. And then he saw him. Josh. Standing in the door, surrounded by light. Behind Mom, behind Dad, behind all the people who blocked the way to protect him.   
Jensen let himself sag down, knowing he was safe now, Josh was here. 

The waitress looked up as well and saw Josh, her hand moving to her mouth in awe. 

“Get the fuck out of here.” Josh said, never even raising his voice.

“Joshua.” Mom, looked at Josh as if she'd been struck.

“Don’t even speak my name. Get out, or I’m calling the cops on you.”

“Joshua!”Dad this time, angry, Jensen had never seen his father like this, fuming, as if steam would burst out at any second.

“How dare you two come here, after what you did to Jensen.”

“Josh we just wanted to…” Mom turned to him, trying to reach out to him, Josh batted off her hand, her approach.

“What? Terrify him? Scare the living daylights out of him? Sell him again?” Josh looked angry too, the look in his eyes had never been so similar to Dad's. But where Dad's anger came from being thwarted, from being refused, Josh's anger was because of what Mom and Dad had done to Jensen, because Josh cared. 

“Josh.” Dad tried to calm down, tried to act cool and controlled. But Jensen could see it was just an act. You learned to read people, when your senses were all you had.

“You sold him, Dad. You took your own son to the Agency and sold him into slavery, you let them take his humanity. Do you even realize just what they did to him in there?!" Josh took a step forward, out of the light, looking like himself now, instead of the angry angel he'd seemed like before. "How much damage you did, just so you could have an easy way to get out of debt? He was your son, and you sold him to a bunch of raping, child abusing bastards. And you actually expect me to let you get near him and hurt him again?” 

“Josh.” Mom spoke. But by now the tension was building in the entire crowd, and there was no way either his mother or his father could come anywhere near Jensen. “We didn’t know. We didn’t know how bad it’d be. How could we?”

“He was eight years old Mom, and you stopped being his parents and became his owners. You lost all rights to him then. The restraining order says you’re not allowed within a mile of Jensen, if you’re not out of here before I count to ten, I’m calling the cops.”

“Jensen, please. We never meant for you to get hurt.” Mom tried again. But Jensen wasn’t listening to her, instead he ran across the other side, let through by the other customers and up to Josh. Holding his brother close. 

When their parents came past them, his mother had her head bowed to the floor. Dad just glared at Josh. “ Jensen, you can still come home with us." Jensen shook his head and hung closer to Josh. 

He watched them leave, watched people glaring at the fading figures, before finally sitting back with their food. Ignored the stares, both of the adults and the other kids in the room. Jensen didn't move from his brother's side.

Josh finally took him to another booth and let him sit down for a second. Jensen didn't realize how harsh his breathing was until he sat down and tried to calm himself. Josh ordered a salad for Jensen and himself. Jensen still couldn’t eat French fries. All the good stuff seemed forbidden. Kids sitting in the booth across of them were eating chocolate sundays and Jensen had to close his eyes, not to remember the sweet taste of chocolate bars and chocolate ice and chocolate everything. 

Neither of them spoke, when they were ready to leave and Josh wanted to pay, the waitress told him it was on the house, owner’s standing orders if they ever saw Joshua Ackles. It was only then that Jensen realized that Josh’s picture was on the wall, next to that of several other celebrities.   
People liked Josh, they realized that Josh was a hero, not just Jensen’s hero, but everyone’s. 

He could smile when Josh took him across the street, to the car, ready to go home. Really home. 

Maybe he’d be fine, some day.

 

 

*****

 

 

The plastic cup in front of him had his pills in it. A blue one, a yellow one, two white ones and last but surely not least, one last pink one. He always kept the pink one for last, the nurses insisted on it. But he would even if they didn't.

Once upon a time, he’d looked forward to a life that would last in the triple digits, and now here he was, not even a century old, and he was already dying. Every cell in his body was dying, bit by bit, giving out on him. The doctors gave him a year at most. They said he’d ruined his body. That he'd brought it on himself. He'd overloaded his system with Ambrosia until it relied more on Ambrosia to sustain itself, than it did on food or water. When he lost the Ambrosia, his cells quickly collapsed, aging him even faster than he would have if he’d never taken Ambrosia in the first place. Jared stared at his reflection in the plate steel of the table, barely recognizing the gray hair, wrinkled face and gnarly teeth that looked back at him. 

He was an old man now, looking older than his father, than Gerald Padalecki had when he finally died. Over twenty years he’d been here, ever since the court decided he had a mental defect and couldn’t stand trial due to his ‘inability to know right from wrong’. For far too long he’d fought that claim. He did know the difference, he wasn’t an idiot. But the more they put the evidence in front of him, the more the shrinks talked to him, trying to get him to speak freely about his father, about the way he was raised, the harder it became to cling on to reality. 

He wanted to hate them, he had hated them, part of him still did, but another part fell for their truths and it hurt, looking back at how he’d wasted his life, trying to please a father who would never have been happy until Jared became the mirror copy that Gerald Padalecki had wanted him to be.

Jared swallowed his pills, the first two separately, then the two white ones and ending with the pink one, according to long established ritual. He took a sip of water in between each turn, and stared at the meal in front of him, his hands were shaking, barely able to hold on to the plastic spoon they'd given him.He noticed his hair had been growing again, a lock of it fell before his eyes and he blew it out of the way before he brought a bite of cabbages to his lips.

The nurses had said he had a visitor. He didn't know who it could be. Chris had been by last week, and he only visited once a month. Jared didn't know why. He'd hate Chris, that last day, he'd wanted to kill him for what he'd said. He'd thought Chris was his friend, and then Chris had proved him wrong, or so he'd thought. 

But Chris... they arrested him, everyone who worked at the farms got arrested. The lawyers had a fun time with that, before long all the prisons were full of people screaming they'd done no wrong. It had made things easier in prison at first, setting up crowds of friends for him to disappear into. But that's before they sent him to the institute. 

It had been a hard time, the authorities had been desperately trying to find things to charge them with. In the end they had to rely on old laws, rather than retroactive punishment. Stating that even if Ambrosia cows were legally animals, then those who slept with them would go down for bestiality. And if they weren't, then they'd go in for child abuse. Loopholes and legal excuses. They still got off lighter than the AAM would have liked them to. 

It was only the ones like Chris who could prove they'd never manually milked a cow, never, Jared had to swallow a the admission, took sexual advantage of the cows, that were released. Many others ended up spending years in jail, with courts not even considering the option of leaving any of them out on probation. 

The fact that both Chris' wife, and even some of the cows had spoken up for Chris, had gotten him out of prison within a year. 

Jared hadn't expected to ever hear from Chris again after that, but instead, Chris had come to visit him as soon as he was freed. And again, every month after that. 

It became part of what he knew, even if at times all Jared wanted to do was yell at the man for betraying him. 

Chad had been here too. He never even got to trial. Chad had been… sick, broken, constantly staring around. No one knew exactly what had happened to him, but the man had never been the same since that day. Jared remembered seeing him sit here when he arrived. It had taken him a few days before they let him run loose long enough for him to find his friend, but Chad had been nothing more than a drooling mess, eyes that once shone with laughter, twitched from one aide to another, as if expecting to be attacked at any moment.

Jared had wanted to help him, to seek Chad's forgiveness for abandoning him. But his lawyer told him he was broke now.They said that Jared’s money had gone to funding the shelters, to repaying his victims. That even if Jared did ever go free, which was doubtful, all of his possessions, even his farm, had gone to repay his debt to society. 

The last he heard of it, was when Jeff had come by. Not his... not the one who'd been his friend, whom he'd killed. The other Jeff, his brother, Jeff Padalecki, or Jeffrey Freeman as he'd renamed himself since he left their father's home. He'd told Jared he left their father behind him, the day Gerald Padalecki had thrown him out. He said it was the best and only thing their father had ever done right for him. Jeffrey had been by to visit twice. Both times he'd left disappointed.

Jeff, Jeffrey and him… they didn’t get along, they barely talked. When Jeffrey died, it had hit him harder than he’d expected it to. He hadn’t thought he would feel anything, but he had. Jeffrey had been... he remembered Jeff trying to protect him from his father. Jeff had been the last and only one to do so.

Jared had been allowed out for a supervised visit to his brother's funeral. He remembered kneeling at the grave, watching all the people that came to see Jeff laid to rest. Jeff had been through what he had as a child, had had all their father’s expectations laid on him like Jared had. In fact, if Jeff hadn’t rebelled, if he hadn’t tried to defend the rest of them, he would have been the one to go to college and to find the rest of them sold or in the stables. 

Jared couldn't help wondering, would Jeff, Jeffrey, have done any better than Jared had, if their father hadn't cast him out? He'd never know for sure.

Jared had put a lily on his brother’s grave and watched his brother’s students. Men, women, children, so many people who’d been affected by him in a positive way. It had hit him then; who would come to stand by his grave, who would bother to grieve over his death. Chris? Maybe. 

In the end, the only ones who’d remember him would be the ones he’d hurt.  
He’d tried sending letters out, apologizing, but none of his former cows responded. One lawyer came to tell him to stop harassing his victims. But he hadn’t meant to hurt anyone, just to say… sorry. To make amends. As if anything he did now, could change the past.

Jared watched the television as he waited for his guest, his visitor. The television was showing replays of the inauguration. The celebrations still hadn't died down, either on the streets or in here. Jared had seen the stickers, the fliers. Even if they weren't meant for the patients, the nurses still did a bad job of hiding them, the few times they'd even bothered to do so.

Joshua Ackles, President of the United States of America. He'd looked strong and determined on the stage, placing his hand on the bible, Ackles looked older now, he's grown a couple of inches, he’d finally filled out those suits and made them look natural. He belonged in them now. Only the second Independent to successfully run for president, regardless of how both democrats and republicans had been begging him to run for them. And then once he started running separately, a few fools had tied to throw dirt on him, it only turned back on them, because nobody wanted to hear a bad word about a man who'd dedicated his life to protecting the most helpless. From freeing cows, to rehabilitating them. To fighting the illegal Ambrosia trade, and finding ways to create jobs for those who'd lost them once Ambrosia became illegal. Over two decades of dedicated service of doing the right thing. It was no surprise when Ackles won with a full mandate, 95% of the votes, the other candidates didn’t stand a chance. Most of the serious ones didn't even bother to run, they already knew it'd be a waste of time and money. 

Jared could see Jensen stand in the family section of the crowd, watching his older brother pledge his oath to defend the constituion. Jensen had grown up, he was in his thirties now, but you’d hardly know it. Gorgeous as ever, he pretty much radiated life and light standing in the open sun. The man holding his hand was some kind of actor, a blue eyed Alpha who’d made it in the world, Jared didn't remember his name. He'd always been good at forgetting names he didn't want to remember. 

Jared had read somewhere that Jensen was a writer now. His first book, 'Life on the farm' had sold out at every level. Jared had read it, one of the nurses smuggled it in for him, despite his doctor's recommendation against it.

The first time Jared had read it, he'd thrown it away, before he'd even got half way through. Then he'd gone back to pick it up again and start reading all over again. Flinching whenever Jensen mentioned him, talked about him even if he never said so in so many words. 

People had been surprised when Jensen's second book was fantasy rather than reality, it still sold out just as fast. 

Jared turned back to the screen, and to the young man standing at Jensen's other side. Standing there in between Jensen and his sister MacKenzie. Tristan Ackles Collins. Jared's son.

The boy was in college, studying science. He had Jared’s length, Jared's eyes, but with Jensen’s face and features. Jared wished he could have given the boy everything he deserved, but as Joshua Ackles promised a long time ago, the boy would never even know the truth. 

Jared wasn’t even surprised when he looked up and saw his guest. Jensen stood there in the door, hesitant, still. Jared stayed put, they faced one another. An old man looking at the personification of beauty. TV hadn’t done Jensen justice. 

 

Jensen didn’t sit down, he just stood there. Jared didn’t speak, he wouldn’t know what to say. 

“I can’t forgive you.” Jensen finally said. “I don’t think I ever will. But I wanted you to know, you didn’t destroy me. You wrecked me, you crushed me, but you didn’t destroy me.”

“That’s good.” Jared whispered, interrupted by a series of coughs He wasn’t sure which part of it was good. He didn’t really deserve forgiveness, but it was good to see the boy had grown so strong. It was hard not to remember that skin under his hands, the way that body had felt underneath him, the way those eyes looked up at him.

“I did care.” Jared finally said. Not even sure if it meant anything anymore.

“I know.” Jensen said as he turned around, back to the door. “That was the hardest part of all.”

When Jared died, a week later, he was buried next to his brother. Jared wouldn’t see the future, he wouldn’t see a world where the grandchildren of betas started displaying breeder characteristics. He would never see the world where in time, the presence of four genders became the norm. Alphas, Betas, Omegas and Femmes, all of them equal, in law as well as in reality.  
He didn’t get to see the world raise a statue at The Washington National Mall, showing Joshua Ackles, his brother standing beside him, representing all that Ackles had fought for. Jared would never live in a world where children would ask their parents to tell the story of how it all happened. And he’d never see a world where he became the boogie man in children’s nightmares. 

Instead he rested, his soul in his mother’s arms. Waiting for another chance at life.

 

Fin


End file.
